Mr Kwadwo Adom-Boateng, Director of Finance and Administration of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), on Wednesday reminded passengers about their critical role in helping to reduce road accidents saying they should demand safety by prompting drivers to reduce their speed. Mr Adom-Boateng gave the advice in Accra at the launch of VULCO, a West Africa Tyre Services operated by RANA Motors. The VULCO service centre, launched at the Osu Total filling station in Accra, is a one-stop-shop for all vehicle tyre repairs and servicing. Similar VULCO centres would be opened in other parts of Accra, Tema, Kumasi, Takoradi, Paga and Burkina Faso. Mr Adom-Boateng said due to careless driving, road accidents continued to rise and that efforts to address the problem would be in vain if all stakeholders were not involved. Giving statistics, he noted that the country recorded 11,320 accidents in 2005, which involved 17,877 vehicles with 15,813 injuries and 1,779 deaths. He said the figure rose to 12,299 accidents in 2009 involving 17,409 vehicles with 18,496 injuries and 2,237 deaths. Mr Adom-Boateng advised vehicle owners to observe a vehicle maintenance culture to help reduce road accidents. Mr Vinay Kapoor, Deputy Managing Director of RANA Motors, said experience and research had shown that lack of regular tyre repairs and maintenance were the concern of most authorities around the world and stressed the importance of regular servicing of vehicles. He gave the assurance that quality services would be offered at VULCO and asked vehicle owners to adopt the repair and maintenance culture to reduce road accidents. Source: GNA