Drivers refusing to wear seat belts
Koforidua, June 20,
Ghanadot/GNA- The campaign for wearing
of seat belts when driving to save lives in times of
accidents seems to be dying down.
A road survey conducted by GNA in the New
Juaben municipality showed that most drivers had relaxed in
the use of wearing seat belts since the police checks
on that had also gone down.
Most of the drivers plying Koforidua-Accra,
Koforidua-Kumasi, Koforidua-Somanya, Koforidua-Akuapem and
the municipality at the time of the survey were not wearing
their seats belts.
Those plying within the municipality claimed
that since they were not travelling far they did not see the
need in wearing seat belts whiles those from long distance
said they put on the belts when on their journey but removed
them when they got to town.
However in both cases, one thing was obvious
that the wearing of seat belts had not caught up with
commercial drivers as it should be and the earlier the MTTU
re-introduced the checks on the road the better.
On the hand, during the same road survey,
most private vehicles were seen with their seat belts on
even on a town ride indicating that the essence of seat belt
was well understood by them than the commercial drivers.
Superintendent Sarfo Peprah, Eastern Regional
Commander of the MTTU, in an interview told the GNA that it
was unfortunate that drivers seemed to be ignoring the
wearing of seat belts to protect their own lives.
He attributed the phenomenon to behavioural
change that was difficult for Ghanaians and called on
drivers to value their own safety by putting on the belt.
Superintendent Peprah mentioned myths such as
getting trapped in case of accident when in seat belt as
baseless and explained that seat belts rather acts as brakes
for humans in moving vehicles and prevent them from hitting
their bodies, especially their heads at objects in the event
of an accident.
He said that helped to preserve occupants of
cars from injury or death and therefore called on drivers
not to see wearing of seat belts as worrisome.
GNA
