An ‘okada’ accident along a busy road.
Chief Superintendent Stephen Ahiatafu, the Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, has disclosed that commercial motorbikes, popularly known as ‘okada’, killed some 20 people in the Eastern Region between January 1 and February 13, this year.
In an interview with a section of the media, he added that the 20 killed by the okada is out of a total of 60 people killed in various vehicular accidents in the region so far.
According to him, most of the cases are pedestrian knock downs caused by unlicensed drivers and motorcycle riders. He admonished pedestrians to be very cautious when using the roads.
He advised pedestrians to always face the oncoming vehicle when using the road, rather than having their backs at the direction of the oncoming vehicles.
The Chief Supt said the Police MTTD would embark on an operation to arrest unlicensed ‘okada’ and tricycle riders in the region.
Statistics
According to him, accidents documents prepared by the MTTD between January 1 and February 13 indicate that the accidents involved 45 vehicles. He added that a good number of the victims suffered various degrees of injuries.
Giving a break-down of the accidents, the Police Chief noted that commercial vehicles killed 19 persons, with private vehicles killing eight, while motorcycles (okada) also killed 20 persons in the period.
Chief Supt Ahiatafu added that data at the MTTD show that since the beginning of last year, motorcycles (okada) have been killing more people than cars, with most of the suspects not having licences to operate commercial motorcycle activities.
“We will soon embark on series of checks on them. When we arrest you, we will ensure that the law takes its course. I will like to emphasize that those who give vehicles to drivers without licence will also be charged; so let’s all be mindful and cautious about the kind of people we give our vehicles to,” he added.
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