The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has said the phenomenon of faulty and non-functioning traffic lights in the Greater Accra Region is a worrying and a dangerous precedent.
According to the Authority, the problem only increases the vulnerability of road users, especially pedestrians, to road traffic crashes and their associated injuries and deaths.
The failure to fix faulty and non-functional streetlights and traffic signals undermine the intent for their installation.
In an interview on TV3, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NRSA, Pearl Sateckla, urged motorists and the police to improvise and manage the situation until the situation gets better.
“It’s very worrying and then a dangerous precedent. We wouldn’t wish that happens but it has happened. So when you get to an intersection where the traffic lights are not working, that is when you have to be disciplined enough.
“Your safety should be paramount to you; your concentration should be on the road, tolerate other drivers. It will take discipline for us to manage the situation,” she said.
At many busy intersections in the Greater Accra Region, drivers from different directions have to negotiate their way through; and in cases where the communication goes wrong, travelling becomes a daring adventure.
Police MTTD officers who control traffic at such places put their lives at great risk.
“We are in contact with the Department of Urban Roads who have the management of the traffic lights under their domain. They engaged us and explained to us that the traffic lights that are in the country are sort of outmoded and so there is a major policy at their end to replace all of them.
“But the major problem they also have is pilfering – thieves taking away all the wires from [the traffic lights],” Pearl Sateckla added.
It remains a grave danger, and a situation that can leave victims maimed for life. Over the past years, it has become common to see many traffic signals out of order in the capital.
At the UPSA Junction off the Madina-Accra road, Kaneshie First Light, Awoshie Barnyard, Graphic Road, Mataheko, among others, the installed traffic lights have been off.
Sometimes – in the case of Kaneshie First Light – some young and middle-aged and even old men take on a new role as traffic wardens.
A recent research by the NRSA showed that nearly half of traffic lights in the region are non-functional, with the Ashanti Region being the second on the list of regions with non-functioning traffic lights, followed by the Central and Western regions.
Traffic lights ensure that sanity prevails on Ghana’s roads. Non-functioning traffic lights, however, are a recipe for disaster.
Efforts must be made to ensure that non-functioning traffic lights are fixed immediately to prevent road crashes.
By Christian Yalley|TV3|3news.com|Ghana