Administrative Secretary of Sunyani branch Secretariat of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (G.P.R.T.U), Bismark Adjin-Frimpong has stressed the need for an additional driver to be attached to main drivers in charge of long journey vehicles.

He said the extra driver would assist the main drivers, whenever they are tired, to help prevent accidents that were mostly caused by fatigue. 

The Secretariat said that several highway accidents were caused by human errors which were as a result of tiredness and lack of rest on the part of the drivers, hence, the need for two drivers for long journey vehicles.

Mr Adjin-Frimpong, speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, said long distance drivers ought to have at least 10 minutes break after driving for every four hours and again must hand over the steering wheel to another person after driving continuously for eight hours.

An Executive member of GPRTU, Mr Francis Kyei Kwarteng said generally, road accidents were not only caused by mechanical faults but also as a result of weakness, over speeding and overloading.

He said wrong overtaking and reckless driving were also contributing to issues of road accidents and therefore implored drivers to be patient on the road.

Mr Kwarteng advised pedestrians and other road users to be vigilant on the roads to save lives.

He called on the National Road Safety Authority to intensify their public education and sensitize drivers and the public on road safety issues so that they could collectively fight road accidents in the country.