Another road traffic accident has recently occurred on the Kintampo-Tamale stretch, killing two people and injuring thirty others.
According to the source, the incident occurred on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at around 5 pm near the Soronoase Toll Booth.
The incident occurred after the front tyre of a tractor detached, causing it to crash with a commercial bus.
From details of the incident, we can attribute the immediate cause of the crash to the front tyre detaching and the underlying cause to the lack of system of maintenance and inspection on the part of the operator.
The incessant occurrence of road traffic crashes sheds light on the government failures, management failures and the individual failures we have as a country.
The role of the National Road Safety Authority (“NRSA”) cannot be overemphasized. The NRSA has the mandate to ensure compliance to road transport best practices, including issuing compliance notices to institutions or organizations that breach road safety standards and procedures. The best practices include Road Transport Management System.
All road transport operators must be compelled to adopt a systematic approach to managing road transport risks by implementing an effective Road Transport Management System, which will prevent them from losing sight of the important elements of journey planning, driver safety, and vehicle safety and importantly ensuring that all their vehicles have inspection checklist and maintenance reports proving that daily inspections and planned maintenance are carried out.
Road transport safety must be addressed holistically by including both the formal and informal sectors in the national road safety strategy.