The National Coordinator for Compliance and Enforcement of the DVLA, Richard Kwesi Eyiah, said the failure on the part of drivers to observe safety regulations on the road accounted for most of the accidents on the road.

At a sensitisation activity in Kasoa at the Liberia Camp taxi and bus terminal, Mr Eyiah called on members of the public to be ambassadors of road safety to check the spate of road crashes and their attendant injuries and deaths.

The programme formed part of the DVLA’s effort to take road safety education to stakeholders at the grassroots level to improve adherence to traffic regulations.

Topics discussed included the maintenance of vehicles and drivers’ health and safety.

Roadworthy

Mr Eyiah advised the drivers to renew their roadworthy certificates at least one month before they expired.

“The drivers are now aware that they do not have to wait until their roadworthy has expired before renewing it, and we are very excited about educating them.

It is very important that car brakes are effective on the road, tyres should not wear out, and you should have good lighting system,” he stressed.

He cautioned that it was dangerous to drive without a licence, and urged all drivers to desist from driving with expired license and advised them to renew their licenses at least every two years and get a replacement every six years to avoid getting involved with the police.

Mr Eyiah also advised against the use of tinted glasses in commercial vehicles. 

Concerns

Mr Eyiah observed that the drivers’ major concerns were bad roads, the absence of streetlights, faded road markings, and the absence of road signs.

“These are vital information, and if our drivers have knowledge about these, then we have good drivers on the road,” he said.

He gave the assurance that the authorities would take the concerns of the drivers into consideration in designing policies and actions to improve road safety.

A taxi driver, Evans Donkoh, suggested that the DVLA should help to contain those problems for the betterment of these drivers and the country as a whole.

He appealed that the DVLA helped drivers to get acquire and renew their licences smoothly and without outrageous prices.

“I was charged an outrageous amount of money to get my drivers licence. This has discouraged most drivers from getting licences.

Now that we have been educated, we know the right channels to go through to get things done right, and we are grateful,” he said.