A commercial bus driver in Accra has been adjudged overall best driver at this year’s Ghana Driver and Road Safety Awards.
Innocent Kofi Tsawoe, an inter-city driver who operates from Accra to other parts of the country, was presented with a saloon car, driver training certificate and other items.
At an event yesterday in Accra, other drivers including Geoffery Dordzi was named best taxi driver, Felix Quayson emerged first runner-up in technology hailing-cab category, Bernard Abaka-Quansah won first runner-up in intracity category, Benedicta Atta took home first runner-up inter-city category while Derrick Kobina Bentum was adjudged first runner-up in the corporate category.
Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah and his deputy, Daniel Titus-Glover, Board Chairman of the National Road Safety Authority (NSRA), Rev. Ismaila Awudu, Citi FM/TV, Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC were honoured for their roles in road safety promotion in the country.
Other drivers were handed certificates for participating in road safety activities including `driving refresher training, defensive driving training, eye and health screening aimed at enhancing the knowledge of drivers in their profession.
It was organised by Ghana Driver and Road Safety Awards Foundation in collaboration with the NRSA, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council, Ministry of Transport, among others.
In an address on behalf of Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Mr. Asiamah commended the awards scheme which recognises and reward drivers who engage in best practices among their peers.
He said the awards were necessary to create a healthy competition among drivers who were critical in mitigating crashes on Ghana’s roads.
“We cannot discount the important duties of drivers to this economy. They are managers of human lives which is unquantifiable and very expensive investments in the nature of vehicles. I want to tell drivers that without them there will be a breakdown of this economy. You have a responsibility to yourself, families, customers and to the country to drive safely so that together we can build the dream of an industrialised society with you as key actors,” he stated.
Likewise, he said the government was committed to discharging its responsibilities dutifully to ensure road safety.
He noted that the passage of the National Road Safety Authority Act to expand the mandate of the Commission to include enforcement of road safety standards and regulation of the commercial road transport industry, additional funding allocation to support road safety activities and provision of enforcement devises was top reduce road crashes and fatalities.
Director-General of NRSA, May Obiri Yeboah, said, since the inception of the awards scheme, road crashes involving fatalities have reduced and urged drivers to observe road traffic regulations to support efforts to eliminate fatal road crashes.
Freda Frimpong, Director of Partnerships, GDRSA Foundation, said, through its deliberate strategy, there was a significant increase in the number of female drivers who participated in the road safety awards activities adding that they were confident the activities would see more women take up driving as a profession.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS