The National Road Safety Authority says it is deploying undercover operatives to board commercial vehicles as passengers to check compliance with safety regulations as the Christmas season approaches.

This is contained in a regulatory alert to all commercial transport operators on the enforcement of the use of log books in intercity relay driving.

In an interview aired on Joy FM's Midday News on Monday, the Director, Regulation, Inspection and Compliance at the National Road Safety Authority, Kwame Koduah Atuahene said the operatives will be stationed at the major highways across the country.

According to him, the undercover operatives will be tasked to monitor “driver behaviour and provide the authority with real-time feedback.”

Mr Koduah Atuahene noted that the authority will work hand in hand with the Ghana Police Service on this initiative at major highway checkpoints.

“Many of these routes the Authority intends to deploy mystery passengers – these are guys who join the trips ununiformed…once we have confirmation that something untoward has happened, we will act on such evidence received from our mystery passengers,” he stated.

This move is aimed at reducing the road carnages recorded annually.

Meanwhile, NSRA has reported that road traffic accidents for the first half of 2022 have seen a four percent decline as compared to the same period in 2021.

The success is attributed to intensified sensitisation and media advocacy campaigns.

The Multimedia Group, especially JoyNews has been spearheading safety campaigns in its bid to help reduce the carnages on our roads.

Data from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) show that from January to May 2022, some 6,472 cases of road traffic accidents were reported while 6,789 of these were recorded within the same period in 2021.

According to the NRSA, the country has witnessed a decline of 4.67 percent in road traffic accidents in 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021.

The figures also indicate that the number of persons killed in road traffic accidents from January to May this year has reduced by 8.8 percent as compared to last year. A total of 1,140 persons were killed in road traffic accidents from January to May this year while 1,250 persons were killed within the same period last year.