Precise Driving School has launched a road safety awareness and sensitisation campaign to reawaken motorcycle riders’ consciousness to the hazards their activities pose to themselves and other road users, and the need for them to comply strictly with road traffic rules.
The programme is under the theme ‘Stop the Motorcycle Crashes Now’, and advocates for the right riding behaviour to prevent motorcycle crashes, serious injuries and fatalities in Ghana through road safety awareness and education campaigns.
At the event, the Director of Drivers’ Training and Licencing at the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA), Kafui Semevo, indicated that before an individual can become a motorcycle rider the person must have the knowledge and skills needed for safe riding.
“Motorcycle riding is a unique experience compared to driving a car. This is because your whole body becomes part of the motorcycle. Riding requires the rider to keep responding to changing conditions of the road; shifting gears, accelerating and braking with precision. Whether you ride to-and from work or prefer to ride in groups, motorcycles engage all your senses and create a strong sense of freedom. Along with that freedom comes responsibility,” he said.
Mr. Semevo made it obvious that the authority believes motorcycling is not meant for everyone; therefore, before one considers being a motorcycle rider there are certain questions which have to be answered as a form of assessment – like whether the physical capabilities and mental attitude required to safely operate a motorcycle on public roads are possessed by the intending rider.
Superintendent Sasu Mensah from the Ghana Police Service touched on the alarming amount of road accidents and number of people losing their lives as a result of motorcycle riding.
“Statistics from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) head office during the 1st quarter of 2021 indicate that Ghana has recorded over 2,000 crashes involving motorcycles. The half-year report for 2021 from the MTTD indicates that 622 motorcycles deaths were recorded from the 3,157 accidents,” he said.
“The issue here is that motorcycles continue to increase the country’s road accident fatalities, despite having the least number of reported cases of crashes,” he said.
General Manager of Precise Driving School, Emmanuel Tetteh Addo, noted that their approach for this campaign is to engage all major stakeholders in the transport sector and lead state institutions vested with the power to regulate road safety matters to create the necessary awareness through their sensitisation messages.
“After this launch, our next step is to take the campaign to major towns and cities throughout the country – where in all instances we shall be having a float throughout the principal streets before converging at the town hall.”
Mr. Addo added that Precise Driving School cannot achieve its aims alone, and therefore call on all riders to join it and the authorities as well – MTTD, NRSA and DVLA – to help the campaign about this cause. “One sure way they can contribute to the success of this campaign is to abide by law, and also encourage their members to make themselves available to participate in all our programmes,” he said.
