MOTOR ACCIDENTS INCREASE IN BRONG AHAFO (PAGE 21)

THE Brong Ahafo Region recorded 315 road accidents with 108 casualties last year.
Six people were also knocked down and killed instantly at the Tanoso and portions of the Sunyani-Kumasi highway as a result of speeding by drivers, who sped off after the accidents, leaving the victims to their fate.
The Regional Police Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Paul Wesley Baah, who made this known to the Daily Graphic in Sunyani, appealed to the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), as a matter of urgency, to construct speed ramps in Tanoso.
According to him, the Tanoso portion of the Sunyani-Kumasi road had become an accident-prone area and, therefore, appealed to all road users, especially drivers plying the highway to observe the 50 kilometre per hour speed limit when entering the town.
He also urged pedestrians to exercise a lot of caution when crossing the road.
Mr Baah gave the assurance that the police would continue with their routine speed checks at that portion of the highway and other accident-prone areas in the region to prevent accidents.
He cited the Afrisipakrom portion of the highway which was also an accident-prone area, where the GHA constructed speed ramps, adding that ever since no accident had occurred in the area.
He said out of the total of 315 road accidents that occurred, 67 were head-on collisions, while 457 persons sustained various degrees of injuries.
He said the fatal road accidents in the region were recorded on the Techiman-Kintampo road and the Tanoso-Bechem Nkwanta portions of the Sunyani-Kumasi highway.
Touching on some of the traffic offences in the region, Mr Baah said a total of 369 cases were reported, out of which 107 were sent to court, with 64 of the offenders being convicted and given an option of fines amounting to GH¢10,746.
He indicated that 10 people were discharged by the courts, while a total of 260 cases were still under investigation. A hit-and-run driver was jailed for 12 months by the court without the option of a fine.
Mr Baah appealed to drivers plying roads in the region to obey road signs and markings.