TOYOTA GHANA MOUNTS ROAD SAFETY CAMPAIGN (Back page) 18-09-08

Story: Kofi Yeboah

TOYOTA Ghana Limited has initiated a road safety campaign to help reduce road accidents and fatalities on the western corridor.
Dubbed: “The road safety memorial”, the campaign involves the mounting of warning signposts along the Mallam-Winneba stretch of the corridor, which has been identified as one of the black spots in terms of road accidents in the country.
Areas targeted for the intervention include Tetegu, Budumburam, Awutu, Akoti Junction and Okyereko, which have witnessed some of the most tragic accidents in the country in recent times.
The signposts dotted along the stretch carry simple and visible road safety messages to caution drivers and pedestrians on the need to be extra careful so as to avoid accidents.
The concept, which is said to have proved successful in advanced countries like the United Kingdom and the United States of America, was designed on behalf of Toyota by Taurus Emporium Company Limited, a transportation engineering firm.
According to officials of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), as well as some road users, the campaign was having a positive impact, two weeks after the signposts were mounted.
Drivers are reported to be slowing down on reaching the areas that the signposts have been mounted.
Launching the campaign in Accra yesterday, the Managing Director of Toyota Ghana Limited, Mr Masato Kimata, expressed the hope that the campaign would make road users more conscious of maintaining their vehicle properly, use genuine spare parts and observe road traffic regulations in order to save lives.
He said the road safety campaign formed part of the social corporate responsibility of the company and underlined its commitment to do more.
An official of Taurus Emporium Company Limited, Mr Michael Bortsie, said the initiative was being implemented on a pilot basis and, based on its success, it would be replicated in other parts of the country.