Avoid alcohol, adhere to traffic regulations – SSO to drivers

The Director of Operations and Monitoring Evaluation for Street Sense, Mr. Gabriel Kofi Dake has urged drivers to avoid alcohol intake and adhere to all road safety regulations during driving.
He said alcohol impaired vision and caused poor judgment during driving which lead to accidents.

Mr. Dake was speaking during a road safety awareness and sensitisation programme to reduce road accidents, especially during the Easter festivities.
Pernod Ricard Ghana, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard and a leading producer of wines and spirits, in partnership with SSO is embarking on the awareness programme.
It is dubbed “Metwi a, Mentwa’, literally meaning “when I drive, I will not drink”, a road safety campaign launched in December last year to sensitise commercial drivers, motorcycle riders and commuters on the detrimental effects of drink-driving.

“Street Sense is an advocate for road safety, and we together with our partners have embarked on these projects many times. The campaign is more about ensuring sanity on our roads, making sure that the accidents on our roads will be lessened.

“For the impact, we can refer to the national statistics. Compared to previous years, there has been a drastic change in the level of accidents recorded and I can say it has reduced drastically,” Mr. Dake said.
He believes that consistent awareness raising against drink-driving will clear the roads from recording high cases of accidents.
“These drivers are aware of whatever message we are trying to pass but in the short term we want to be able to change the narrative about drink-driving and in the long term, we are looking at reducing the rate at which accident happens in the country,” he said.

The Sustainability and Responsible Manager for Pernod Ricard Ghana, Ms. Eunice Osei-Tutu said the initiative formed part of her organisation’s objective to not only educate the public on responsible drinking, but to reduce accidents on the road.

“We are committed to fighting alcohol misuse and creating a better way to live and work together, to bring good times today and for generations to come. This campaign is one of our programmes under the Responsible Hosting pillar of our sustainability and responsibility roadmap.

“It is also in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3. We are optimistic that, creating awareness among commercial drivers about the dangers of drink-driving is one way to help reduce deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents,” she said.

The sensitisation programme will be held in 10 major lorry stations in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Central Regions.
The two-week campaign starts with the drivers of G.P.R.T.U Obra Spot Lorry Park, with distributions and talks on the need to avoid drink-driving and adhere to road safety regulations.
Other lorry stations to be visited during the period include Neoplan Station, Accra-Tema Station, Tudu, Ashaiman, Tema, Lapaz, Kasoa, Amasaman and Nsawam.