It is estimated that six people are killed every day and 2000 die annually due to road crashes in the country.
Majority of those who die from these crashes are between the ages of 18 and 45 years with about 75 per cent of them being males.
This was disclosed by Mr Abraham Zaato, the Assistant Planning Officer, National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), during the AGM of the Ghana National Association of Driving Schools also known as ‘GhanaDrive’.
The event was under the theme: “Quality Driver Training; the key to carnage reduction on our roads”.
He said statistics available to them reveals that saloon cars form the bulk of cars involved in such crashes with 56 per cent of these occurring in broad day light.
Mr Zato said apart from lack of driving experience, fatigue, abuse of alcohol and drugs, and other distractions while driving were some of the issues which also cause accidents on our roads.
He urged driving instructors to teach their clients the knowledge and skills critical for safe driving and also tailor their content to suit the laws governing driving in the country.
Mr Zato urged the participants to desist from minimizing their training period from three months to just two weeks for some clients, since that would not enable them acquire all the needed knowledge as far as safe driving was concerned.
Reverend Amankwa Addo, the President of GhanaDrive, expressed his appreciation for the establishment of driving schools as it had helped to streamline the training of drivers and driving in the country.
“At first drivers were trained anyhow and managed to get their licenses; some were trained at lorry parks, fitting shops and even washing bays, but now driving schools have helped to streamline all of these,” he said.
He urged his members not to make the acquisition of money their main focus but ensure that they produced good drivers for the country.
Mr Cheyou Wienna Musah, the Director, Driver Training, Testing and Licensing, DVLA, called for the revision of the manual for driving schools to make room for new and improved methods of training.
