By Anthony Apubeo, GNA
Bolgatanga, Aug 11, GNA – The National Road
Safety Commission (NRSC) has called on religious leaders to be ambassadors of
the commission in their respective places of worship to support the road safety
campaign to reduce road crashes.
Mr Dennis Yeribu, the Acting Upper East
Regional Head of the Commission, made the appeal when his outfit spoke with the
leaders and members of The Church of Pentecost in Bolgatanga during the
Church’s lay leadership programme.
It was part of activities of the Commission
to intensify the sensitisation drive on road safety and the need for people to
observe traffic regulations.
Mr Yeribu who took the Church Congregation
through some of the road and traffic signs, symbols and regulations that needed
to be adhered to when plying the roads, indicated that religious leaders such
as Pastors, Imams and traditional authorities had critical roles to play to
ensure safety on the road.
He underscored the need for religious
leaders to employ their wide influence to preach peace at their various
gatherings and educate their members on the importance of complying with road
safety regulations.
He said human errors including;
carelessness, disregard for safety regulations, overloading, excessive speeding
and alcoholism were major causes of road crashes in the region leading to loss
of lives particularly the youth.
He advised the people to employ defensive
driving techniques and use their crash helmets at all times to avoid fatalities
whenever there was an accident.
Provisional statistics, he said showed that
within the period of January to June, 2019, 118 crashes involving 182 vehicles
were recorded in the region, with 79 representing 43.4 per cent being
motorcycles.
Out of the crashes recorded within the two
quarters, 43 persons including; 33 men and 10 females were killed in the
process and according to the Acting Regional Head, majority of the fatalities
involved young people.
He said the situation if not tackled
collectively would get worse and the region would lose many breadwinners and
energetic human resource.
Mr Enock Ayim, the Head Pastor of the Church
of Pentecost, Bukere branch, thanked the officials from the NRSC for extending
the educational campaign to his outfit and admonished the congregation to apply
the knowledge acquired particularly the use of crash helmets and compliance
with traffic regulations to help reduce road crashes in the region.
GNA
