Drug use among drivers, has assumed alarming rates with some of them increasingly resorting to potent mixtures of several drugs at the high risk of fatal overdoses.
Those in that state of mind are not only risking their own lives, but also the lives of others, as well.
Worried about the number of road crashes, the Winneba Municipal Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service, DOIII Kwesi Hughes has outlined the use of Indian hemp-laced toffees by some drivers as one of the contributory factors to accidents recorded on the Cape Coast-Accra highway.
DOIII Kwasi Hughes, according to a 3news.com report stated in an interview that, the abuse of enhancement substances by the drivers plying the stretch is a dominant contributory factor to the high rate of accidents recorded on the highway.
Data from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), has confirmed that 232 lives perished through road crashes in January alone this year. Within the same month, a total of 972 vehicles were involved in various accidents resulting in 1,237 injuries.
In a similar report from the MTTD, 2,924 lives were lost through road crashes in 2021. In an official release, the MTTD indicated that this is a 12.94% rise compared to last two years’ statistics which state that 2,589 people got killed.
These startling statics in the opinion of this newspaper, is disheartening and needless, and this is in spite of sustained public campaigns against driving while drunk, not to talk less of taken “wee” toffee.
Unfortunately, road accidents are the number one leading cause of violent deaths in Ghana.
Substance addiction poses a clear and present danger to public health and public safety, and as newspaper we urge the government at all levels to begin to take this revelation by DOIII Kwesi Hughes seriously.
Sadly, most policemen on our roads, who are to check for drug abuse by drivers, have turned themselves into revenue generating agency and abandoned their statutory duties.
As a newspaper, we will support every legitimate move to halt the use of drugs by drivers, particularly among commercial drivers, since they convey people to and from their destinations.
