We must give stiffer punishments to “negligent drivers” – NRSA

Mr Abraham Amaliba, the Director General of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), has called for a more deterring punishment for drivers who engage in negligent driving.

He said this would reduce the number of crashes caused by negligent drivers and ensure more sanity on the roads.

Mr Amaliba, speaking on an Accra-based radio station on Monday, said at least 13,489 road traffic crashes were reported from January to December 2024.

Out of this, 2,494 people died while some 15,607 others were injured.

Also, about 2,394 pedestrians were knocked down within the period, resulting in the death of 590 people.

Mr Amaliba, while acknowledging the role that poor road markings, poor street lightning and pedestrians’ indiscipline played in such crashes, identified drivers’ indiscipline on the road as a major cause of the accidents.

He said such indiscipline must be treated as a serious offence and stiffer punishment be meted out to offenders to deter others.

“Some of the accidents are not accidents per se, some of them are negligence on the part of either the drivers or the pedestrians,” Mr Amaliba said.

“Accident is when you are not in control or you are not aware of the consequences or you can’t even control the issue, it came by itself.”

“…But negligence is when you are not up to your responsibilities, and I think when it comes to negligent driving, we shouldn’t treat it as a common accident and punishment must be meted out severely to those drivers.”

Mr Amaliba expressed the Authority’s commitment to tackling the menace, indicating that he was engaging relevant stakeholders such as the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority, Ghana Highways Authority, Department of Urban Roads and the Road Safety Services Limited who are in charge of towing, to ensure improved service delivery.

“Tomorrow, I’m meeting the highways authority, they are in charge of road markings in this country. After that, I’ll meet the urban roads, they are in charge of the traffic lights,” he said.

“So, I am ensuring that all road sector players will begin to up their game on this matter.”

He disclosed the reintroduction of the Legislative Instrument (L.I) on Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations to Parliament to strengthen regulations on the road. 

The L.I. was shelved last year after public outcry regarding a section of the bill, which allowed specific officials, including parliamentarians, to use sirens.

Mr Amaliba said that aspect of the L.I. had been expunged and new modifications made to include the legislation of commercial motor riders, popularly known as “Okada.”

The L.I., when passed, would help to impose spot fines on drivers who violated road traffic regulations.

Source: GNA

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