The National Road Safety Authority has vowed to crack down on buses fixed with Television sets as parts of efforts to reduce rampant accident on the roads.
According to the authority, TV set in vehicles is very big distraction to passengers and drivers which cause a lot of accidents on the highways.
Speaking on Nkawkaw based radio station Agoo fm, Road Safety Advocate of the National Road Safety Authority in the Eastern Region Mr. David Abunyah said passengers are there to monitor and stop drivers from flouting driving laws such as over speeding, overtaking and others which could cause accidents.
He told host Kwame Koranteng that, section 189 of the Road Safety Acts is against TVs in vehicles on dash board. It states that, ‘’ (1) a person shall not use or operate a television monitor or a similar device on the dash board of a motor vehicle while the motor vehicle is in motion.
(2) A person who contravenes sub-regulation commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than twenty-five penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than thirty days or to both.
Mr. David Abunyah was quick to add that, the Authority will soon be clothed with the power to arrest drivers who fix Televisions sets to entertain passengers.
He said when passengers become so engulfed in watching TV in vehicles their focus is turned off the road making them unaware of what goes on.
Mr. Abunyah mentioned that preaching in buses is another source of distraction to drivers and passengers which must not be allowed.
He also advised passengers to engage drivers to know if they have their driver’s license before they board their cars.
Meanwhile, the National Road Safety Manager of the Eastern Region, Mr. Abdulai Bawa Gamsah on the same platform said in 2018, Eastern Region was number 1 in road accidents statistics but now at number 3 in the country though they are doing their possible best to eradicate the menace.
He added that per their statistics they realized that the most cause of accident in the region is driver inattentiveness.
