Mr. Francis Johnny Amegayibor, Former Board Member, Drivers and Vehicle License Authority (DVLA) has expressed concern about the nature of seats in most commercial vehicles especially Trotro-Seats, which poses danger to passengers.
According to Mr. Amegayibor, most of the interior materials of the Sprinters Vans converted into public transport –Trotro, had seats which were fixed by wayside welders with iron bars and then covered with foam to serve as seats for passengers.
He said these seats were dangerous in case of any road crashes, while lots of passengers have also had unpleasant situation where a protruding metal either injured them or tore their clothes.
Speaking on the Ghana News Agency-Tema Regional Office and Tema MTTD Road Safety Campaign platform, Mr Amegayibor said: “In as much as passengers want to board Trotro, one must always be careful about the condition of the bus before jumping onboard”.
Mr Amegayibor said majority of the sprinters which had been imported into the country were originally fitted for ten seats; but Trotro owners mechanically manipulated the axles or the central shafts in a way to increase the number of seats from ten to sometimes 18 or more.
He said sometimes in an effort to manipulate the axle or shafts, the hand break was removed, leading to some Trotro buses operating without hand breaks and the drivers only depended on the foot break, which was dangerous in case of emergencies.
Amegayibor, who is an automobile consultant, explained that the Sprinter Vans converted into Trotro on the roads were not supposed to be used to carry passengers but to serve as cargo vans. Unfortunately, they were transformed it into passenger vehicles in the country, which was a dangerous phenomenon.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Manager, therefore called for attitudinal change on the road in order to reduce road crashes.
He noted that among the many causes of road crashes, carelessness by drivers or pedestrians crossing the road without any senses of responsibility was a major problem, “we cannot continue to use the road without adhering to road safety regulations, this must stop”.
Mr Ameyibor, called for tolerance on the road, noting that speeding, unnecessary manoeuvring from one lane to the other without giving enough signal to other road users were all dangerous practices.
The GNA-Tema and MTTD Road Safety Project seeks to actively create consistent and systematic weekly awareness advocacy on the need to be cautious on the road as a user, educate all road users of their respective responsibilities, and sensitize drivers especially of the tenets of road safety regulations, rules and laws.
