HOW TO SPOT TRAFFIC-JAM PRONE AREAS IN ACCRA!

This is a light-hearted piece I wanted to share with you. I got a call from a friend about what he’s observed as being synonymous with traffic-jams in Accra: Policemen! I told him people would think I was on a police-bashing spree, because of my previous articles. Upon second thoughts, however, I feel that it ties in with something I’ve observed myself about traffic-jams in Accra. I hope this knowledge proves useful in some way, though I very much doubt it! (there's no where [else] to run, or in this case, drive!)


HOW TO SPOT TRAFFIC-JAM PRONE AREAS IN ACCRA!
Yes, you can actually tell if a road or a junction or intersection is traffic-jam-prone if you notice any of the following:
i. A mobile telephone top-up card vendor
ii. A “pure water” seller, and my personal favourite,
iii. A plantain chips seller!

The icing on the cake is the policeman or the traffic warden directing traffic in the centre of town. There’s always a traffic-jam in town when they are around. Sometimes, there’s actually no traffic-jam until this policeman or traffic warden shows up and then things go from bad to worse!

A case in point is the late night traffic checks. If you’re going to Adenta from Legon from about 9:30pm, I really wouldn’t like to be the one driving your car, because you’re going to be in a jam from Legon Gate, all the way to North Legon! Grrr!

Now, why don’t you put your powers of observation to test and tell me how one can spot other situations/events in Accra?

Looking forward to reading from you! (Okay, this, in other words, means leave me a comment, please!)


If you see a traffic-jam, there is something you should know
You can snack on plantain chips or have a drink of water
You can recharge your cell phone credit
And hope traffic warden makes things better!

Fiily-fiili experience of officially-sanctioned Indiscipline on our roads!

Guess happened this morning! On my way to the office from Legon, I used the Okponglo - Adjiringanor route to Ashale-Botwe. At the Nmai Dzorn school junction, I notice a green bullion van driving recklessly behind me. When I got onto the Ashale Botwe road, I could see he was impatient to overtake me, so just before I got to the Old Town GOIL service station, I went a little more to the side of the road to allow him to pass. He overtook me and the four cars ahead of me all at once with his hazards on. Guess what! When I got to the Ashale-Botwe Aviation Road Juction a minute or two later, the bullion van had stopped. Guess why?... they were buying Kofi Brokeman! (Roasted ripe plantain) Can you believe that! I was so astonished and then cross that the driver had endangered so many lives by overtaking us so recklessly even with oncoming traffic only a minute or two before!

You know what I did? I indicated for them to roll down the window and addressed the driver and a young policeman in uniform seated in the front passenger seat: "I can't believe you were driving so recklessly and overtaking everybody and yet you have time to stop to buy Kofi Brokeman!" As they stared at me in surprise, I went on: "Your life is important, so don't endanger yourself if you don't need to. You didn’t need to drive so recklessly!" Then I walked to the vendor and got some Kofi Brokeman for myself. Apparently, I was served before they were, so one of the two female passengers at the back yelled at the vendor: "Aren't you going to give me my food?" The vendor apologised and handed the "wiase ye sum" (black polythene shopping bag) to her and then they drove off. Before then, however, I saw the driver and the policemen arguing. I hope it was about the silly thing they'd done.

Remember what I said earlier this week about officially-sanctioned indiscipline on our roads?!!!

OFFICIAL INDISCIPLINE ON GHANA’S ROADS

As a follow-up to my previous article on indiscipline on our roads, here's my observations about the part the Police is playing in our problems with discipline on our roads. I sent a slightly modified version for publication in the Daily Graphic two weeks ago, but it's still not been published. Hmmm... so here goes...

OFFICIAL INDISCIPLINE ON GHANA’S ROADS

The Ghanaian public has complained time and again about the total lack of discipline on our roads, but it seems like things have not changed. In my opinion, the situation is actually getting worse because we are used to being rude, impatient, discourteous and even reckless towards other roads users.

Driving on traffic-prone roads such as the Lapaz - Mallam road and recently, the main Legon-Adenta road is most unpleasant, because drivers drive on the shoulders of the roads and even on the path of oncoming traffic because they do not want to wait in line for their turn to move. Result is, those who do the right thing by staying in the traffic jam never move or spend a much longer time in the queue than they need to, because other drivers who are way behind them in the queue bypass them and then rejoin the queue at its head. Not only is this unfair, but it also encourages other drivers to drive recklessly, so they do not remain in traffic jams.

The fault is not entirely that of the commercial/private driver... the Police have had a big hand in the current state of affairs, because they have actively contributed to recklessness on our roads, through their own actions. I am referring to instances when the Police themselves, drive recklessly, especially on the shoulders of the road, even when there is no urgency or reason to do so.

A case in point is the little stretch of the Switchback Road that joins the main Airport-Accra ceremonial street, right before the Officers’ Mess opposite the 37 Military Hospital. That road has always been a two-way street, although while the ceremonial road was being built, it served as a one-way street for a while, but has since reverted to a two-way street. This road has virtually turned into a one-way street because people drive on the side of oncoming traffic (those who have turned off from the ceremonial road and are heading towards Labone/Cantonments). This always causes problems and blocks traffic in there.

Even more worrying is the fact that Police vehicles coming from the CID Headquarters hardly ever remain in the traffic jam. They are always the first to drive on the path of oncoming traffic, so as to avoid the traffic jam, even when there is no need for them to do so. If the Police are out on an urgent mission, they are more than welcome to overtake other cars and drive on the shoulders of the road to save the day. Sirens blazing, of course! However, when they drive on the path of oncoming traffic and on the shoulders of roads, when everyone can see that there is no real urgency to their trip and, therefore, no need for them to drive so recklessly, it encourages others to copy them and infuriate the rest of us law-abiding drivers, who are patiently waiting for our turn to get into the road.

In countries where the enforcement of road traffic regulations is taken seriously, the Police abide by the rules, except when there is an emergency and, therefore, permission for them to do otherwise. If we are really serious about enforcing road traffic regulations, respect for the rules has to start from the enforcers themselves and then the general populace will fall in line. If the enforcers will not respect the rules, the will find, by and by that they lack the cooperation needed from the general populace to enforce the laws.

Ghana Police, let us put an end to officially-sanctioned indiscipline on our roads and we would be making some progress on curbing indiscipline on the country’s roads.

Our Moped Menace

Our roads are unsafe because we have trotro and taxi drivers who stop in the middle of the road to pick up their passengers, turn off roads without using their trafficators and who over-speed in overloaded and poorly-maintained vehicles. While this is hard fact, there’s another menace on our roads – cyclists and motorcyclists... the mopeds who are a menace on our roads.

I don’t know who told cyclists and motorcyclists that they are not affected by traffic lights and traffic regulations that other motorists observe. Motorcyclists think they can jump red lights and weave in and out of cars, often, without crash helmets because they’re so special. I don’t blame them, because even when they jump red lights at intersections manned by the police, they don’t get pulled over. I’ve had one or two near misses in the last few months and frankly, they were pretty hair-raising experiences.

Some cyclists refuse to use the bicycle lanes assigned to them on some roads, such as the Legon – Tetteh Quarshie road, and instead, weave in and out of the lanes in which motorists drive at full speed.

I have only one half of the solution to this problem: since motorcyclists have to register their bikes and get licences, they must also be taught road traffic regulations and road signs and be tested when they renew their licenses. The police must pull them over and penalise them for breaking road traffic regulations, instead of allowing them to jump red lights with impunity.

Next question is what do we do about the bicycle riders?

This is very important and urgent, so MTTU, over to you!

Gosh!
I just realised I haven't posted anything for a whole year now! That's terrible! Anyway, I think I'll beg pardon by using this cliche Ghanaians love so much... better late than never! I'm back after a year-long break from everything to do with writing (well leisure stuff) with lots of fun and even more importantly, thought-provoking stuff to set us thingking and (hopefully) mending our ways.

Here's something I just can't stand about driving in Ghana... the way our motorcyclists and bikers ride on our roads. I call them Our Moped Menace! Coming up shortly. Hope it sets us all thinking!