The Minister for Transport, Mr Kweku Ofori Asiamah, has appealed to stakeholders to intensify education on road safety to reduce accidents.

According to him, the rising rate of preventable road accidents was very alarming and called for increased sensitisation to road safety by the various stakeholders to complement efforts of the National Road Safety Authority and other regulatory bodies.

The minister made the appeal when he paid a courtesy call on the Waala Traditional Council at Wa as part of a day’s working visit to the Upper West Region last week.

He explained that several hundreds of people lost their lives in the first four months of the year and that over 70 per cent of the accidents were as a result of human error.

“I am appealing to traditional leaders, authorities at the various Regional Coordinating Councils as well as metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country to join forces with the media in order to educate road users, especially drivers, on the need to avoid speeding on the road,” he said.

Mr Asiamah added that some of the accidents that occurred because drivers paid less attention to road safety rules and regulations.

“Road safety is a shared responsibility; people must begin to take up those personal responsibilities for their own safety and ensure that they obey and observe road regulations to avoid crashes that can cost them their lives and those of other road users,” he stated.

He stressed that the need for motor riders to wear their helmets such that in cases of motor accidents, they would be protected.

“As a country, we make most of our travels on the road because it is relatively affordable and readily available. Therefore, as stakeholders, we need to prioritise efforts that will go a long way to protect this segment of the population as they are in the majority,” he said.

The Transport Minister implored the media to use their platforms to assist state institutions that had the mandate of educating the population to create awareness of the road safety regulations.

The Overlord of the Traditional Council, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, called for dualisation of roads within the Wa town to adequately accommodate the increasing number of vehicles on the road and also prevent accidents.