The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has said plans are underway to partner with the the relevant stakeholders to clamp down on long-distance drivers who consume alcohol and cocaine-laced toffee to stay alert while travelling.

The stakeholders are; transport operators, Ministry of Health, Building and Road Research Institute (BRII), the Ghana Police Service among others.

This follows the Ghana Private Road Transport Union’s (GPRTU) revelation that some long-distance drivers in order to stay alert while driving, consume alcohol and in some cases substances laced with cocaine.

Acting Director of the NRSA, David Adonteng in an interview with JoyNews on Tuesday noted that the Authority is aware of the situation and is devising ways to address it.

“I think that as for the alcohol, we have devices to detect now. We are looking at ways of detecting the other chemicals. We are considering working with the transport operators and also bringing in the Ministry of Health to partner with them and even BRII to carry out some research works.

“So that we can identify some of these common substances that these drivers are using and then we can work with the Police and other institutions to devise the mechanisms to address the problem. I think that it is a joint and collective responsibility which we have started talking about for now,” he stated.

General Secretary of the GPRTU, Godfred Abulbire disclosed during an interview with Evans Mensah on Newsnight, on Monday, that although the Union has received such reports, it is yet to apprehend any driver who is culpable.

“Like you were talking about drunk driving or whatever, persons at the point of departure may not drink. Halfway, they stop and enter some spots and take some drinks. I can say that some members within the North, in the Upper East coming to Tamale and Kumasi were banned.

“But the situation now is becoming more than we expected…not even alcohol alone, I remember somebody called me and said, have I heard of this toffee that is made of cocaine or whatever, and I said I have never seen, but some way, I have heard about it,” he said.

Mr. Abulbire urged passengers to report drivers who may be found guilty of such acts.

He said the GPRTU would position itself to get evidence against drivers who are involved to ensure appropriate action is taken against them.

“It is not easy to get them until it happens. That’s why I said that we need to empower the passengers onboard every car. The passenger should be bold enough to report such situations when they see it.

“We haven’t gotten one, any driver or group who are involved and the evidence provided, we can take drastic measures against such a driver,” he added.