Story: Benjamin Makafui Attipoe, Sogakope, Volta Region
Three (3) vehicles have been involved in an accident around the Vekon bread market near the Sogakope District Hospital in the South Tongu district of the Volta Region. The Ford Transit bus driver, who was allegedly blamed for the accident due to wrongful overtaking and over speeding on his part, bolted moments after the accident, leaving all the passengers on board his vehicle to their fate.
It was believed that the Ford Transit bus driver’s escape from the accident scene was to avoid him being lynched by residents and the youth of the area even though the accident area was not noted for such reactionary antecedents.
The accident which occurred on Sunday around 10.15am, involved two double cabin hard-body pick-ups with registration numbers GT9705-16 and GT7635-15 respectively as well as a Ford Transit bus number GR6330-22. The first pick-up, which was ahead of the Ford Transit bus, was from Akatsi, heading towards Sogakope while the second pick-up, which had just taken off from the Vekon bread market, was from Accra towards Keta.
There was no casualty in this latest accident. Eye witness accounts had it that the Ford Transit bus driver earlier hit the first pick-up ahead of him, destroying its left tail-light after which he veered into the other lane, hitting its bucket side, following a very quick swerve on the part of the second pick-up driver to avoid a head-on collision.
The second pick-up driver, Mr. Confidence Tudi told our newsteam that but for his smart attempt swerving the bus which was from Aflao heading to Accra, he would have been killed through a head-on collision, lamenting that the speed was just too much.
The first pick-up driver, Mr. Prince Moses Kpohu corroborated Mr. Tudi’s account. According to him, when reaching the bread market area, he saw a vehicle parked on the right shoulder of the road so he slowed down as any rational driver would do only to have the speeding Ford Transit bus driver hitting him at the back, destroying his left tail light after which he veered onto the opposite lane, hitting the second pick-up as well.
The crash led to the complete destruction and removal of the entire back axle of the second pick-up.
A resident of the area and an Eye Witness, Mr. Victor Amegakpo shared with our newsteam how the unfortunate accident happened, blaming and accusing most of the Ford Transit drivers on the Accra-Aflao highway for over-speeding and wrongful overtaking on the road.
Mr. Amegakpo, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Transport Services Company Limited, Sogakope, wondered why the escaped Ford Transit bus driver was over-speeding and wrongly overtaking when he was not only approaching a busy market and hospital area but also loaded with a full set of passengers. ‘These drivers should value their lives and know that they are not carrying animals or cows; they are carrying human beings, for God sake’, Mr. Amegakpo lamented.
He called on the Ministry of Roads and Highways and government for that matter to take drastic measures to stop the indiscipline and carnage on the country’s roads.
Mr. Amegakpo mentioned the deployment of a speed limit technology on the country’s highways, the severe punishment of recalcitrant derivers, the strict enforcement of road traffic rules and regulations as well as the intensification of motor traffic education by the Motor Traffic and Transport Division (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) as some measures that would go a long way to completely eliminate if not reduce the indiscipline and the loss of innocent lives and property on the country’s roads and highways.
The accident brought about a slow vehicular movement in the area for sometime, compelling MTTD officers from the Tongu Divisional Headquarters of the GPS at Sogakope to storm the road in order to direct and control traffic with the help of some residents around.
They also succeeded in towing the accident cars off the road in order to proceed with full investigations into the incident.
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