A Deputy Minister for Transport, Hon. Hassan Tampuli has said, on a daily basis, an average of six persons are killed on our roads as a result of road traffic crashes. These needless deaths, he noted, regrettably translated into far larger consequences but can be reversed if we all translate the passion that brought us here into the basic road use practices are implemented to make road use better for ourselves as a country.
Hon. Tampuli urged drivers and other road users to make road safety a topmost priority, since safety was everybody’s concern and could not be improved by Government alone, and implored them to observe the rules of the road, particularly with respect to speeding, overloading, wrongful overtaking, driver fatigue and drink-driving.
“Safe driving is a shared responsibility and we need to be doing much more as transport operators to prevent deaths and injuries on our roads”, he added.
He mentioned this when he launched the Heavy Duty Drivers Association, an affiliate of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union of the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The Minister said, the Ministry through the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority and the National Road Safety Authority would be rolling-out some reforms, key among them would be the mandatory refresher training programmes for all commercial vehicle drivers, installation of speed limiters and tachographs, monitoring of rest period for drivers among others as prescribed in the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, L.I. 2180.
He added, ‘we would count on your cooperation and support so that together, we can improve the road safety situation in the country when implementation starts’.
The Deputy Minister said, it was his fervent prayer that, the Association would be dedicated and committed to safety on the road, be selfless and hardworking to inspire members for excellence. He implored them to bear in mind that the strength of the Association was its membership, therefore, they should make amends if matters arose and promote excellence among themselves at all times.
The Ministry, he added, remained committed to ensuring that the movements of goods and people were carried out in an efficient, costs effective, reliable, affordable and sustainable manner, therefore making the Association a key strategic partner towards meeting those objectives and was ready to work with the Association.
Source: Ministry of Transport
Add Comment