Sunday, February 10, 2019

WHY NIGHT DRIVING IN GHANA IS OFTEN DANGEROUS


All roads and highways in Europe have lights to make night driving very easy



All roads and highways in Europe have lights to make night driving very easy





Many drivers believe that it is easier to drive in the night since the density of traffic is very low, enabling one to drive fast and calm but there are a lot of factors which create difficulties during night driving. This is one of the reasons there are many road accidents in Ghana.


Apart from bad roads, many vehicles on Ghanaian roads are not road worthy and the lack of proper road maintenance poses a threat to the lives of thousands of motorists, using Ghanaian roads.

Related topic: How Safe It Is To Ride A Bicycle In Ghana?


In Ghana, the driving license unit in Accra, is the only recognized institution that conducts thorough examination on vehicles, for example, the lights, indicators, headlights and backlights, before the roadworthy certificate is issued but  one of the most important things, which is the adjustment of  headlights to the right level is not an important issue.

Many European drivers fail a vehicle examination or control test because of poor adjustment of headlights. Since the headlights are not adjusted to the right level, it creates difficulties for motorists. Badly adjusted headlight shines directly into the eyes of the oncoming traffic, causing partial blindness which often leads to a number of road accidents in Ghana.

A powerful beam of light blinds the driver, both oncoming and in front of the vehicle. This means that for a while the driver will find difficulty in seeing the road and if the motorist is inexperienced, he can easily drive to the wrong side of the road or can lead to a head-on collision. 

Related topic: Make Ghana Roads Safe With Belgium Road Safety Plan
In Africa, including Ghana, since the maintaining of road safety to European or modern standards involves financial matter; no government is willing to invest money into such costly projects. The result is deaths on our roads today in Ghana.

According to ModernGhana news article which appeared in yesterday’s edition, Ghana spends up to $230 million every year treating injuries and traffic fatalities and the situation is worse, since there is fewer than 80 orthopedics in the country, limiting access to emergency treatment.

If that's true then Ghanaian government must consider building safer roads in Ghana.



Lights on highways make night travelling easy and comfortable


Driving in Ghana in the night or travelling in the night is very dangerous due to the fact that one cannot see far and foresee changes in situations. When a vehicle, such a tipper truck or timber trailers break down in the middle of the road in the night it's very difficult to see it. Such situations often cause serious road accidents.

Street projects without lights is a bad job, therefore, the Ghanaian government should take road safety very seriously to reduce the number of road accidents in the night.

Related topic: So You Think You Know How To Drive?

No comments: