PEDESTRIANS MUST ACT RESPONSIBLY

Page 7: Daily Graphic, March 12, 2012. BEFORE the George Walker Bush Highway was inaugurated, a number of challenges were brought to the fore. Key among the challenges were the non-provision of facilities for the physically-challenged and the few and distant nature of the footbridges. Apart from these challenges, motorists and pedestrians alike have commended the authorities for opening up the road to ease the traffic congestion on that road. Regrettably, 20 persons have been reportedly killed since the road was opened three weeks ago, sending worrying signs that that road will be become a death trap. Most of the deaths have occurred mostly through the refusal of pedestrians to cross the road on either side through the approved means to conduct one business or another. We concede that the number of footbridges may be few and quite distant apart from each other, but at what cost will we want to risk our lives? Safety issues seem not to be part of the vocabulary of Ghanaians. We often take things for granted and presume that all will be well. We cannot fanthom how a human being can run faster than an approaching car and for which reason many of the road users prefer to walk across the road instead of using the footbridges. The distant nature of the footbridges is no justification for its non-use. At places where we have footbridges, many pedestrians refuse to use them and rather prefer to walk across the roads. Before the reconstruction of the road, the Kwashieman footbridge was not being used as expected. The Nima footbridge has become another story altogether because some people defecate on it. It is high time that Ghanaians acted more responsibly and begin to obey road traffic regulations. It is better and safer to walk a kilometre to save your life than to take a shortcut and die a foolish death. We are particularly alarmed by this negative tendencies because of the number of schools along the George Walker Bush Highway. What message will we be sending to the children if we lead them to do the wrong and dangerous things at this time of their lives? The decision by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to fence off the stretch to check the indiscipline of lawless citizens is welcomed. But until the fencing, we believe all pedestrians must act responsibly to sav e us this embarrassment.-