from MASAHUDU KUNATEH in Accra, Ghana
ACCRA, (CAJ News) - GHANA'S Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane Boamah has urged developers of IT platforms to help reduce traffic carnages.

He urged them to contribute to such initiatives by customising their ICT applications.

Boamah however told CAJ News in Accra that ICT has the capacity to solve road accidents and challenged the public to determine how ICT could be used to improve road safety.

He said government was undertaking the digitisation of records at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and appealed for collaboration from institutions including the Ghana Police Service, Ministry of Roads and Highways and National Road Safety Commission to develop ICT platforms which would allow accessibility and enable data to be shared and synchronised.

Ghana loses 1.6 percent of its her Gross Domestic Product to Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs).

The factors of the cost include loss of productive hours, property damage, medical bills, human and administrative cost among many others.

RTCs in Ghana account for 1 800 deaths annually, with 60 percent of the victims being in the productive ages of 18 to 55, according to the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC).

Globally, road crashes account for 3 200 lives daily, while it renders several millions of people incapacitated at the same time.

Research has revealed that driver distraction and road user behaviour, which includes text messaging and interfacing with in-vehicle communication systems while driving, are among the leading contributory factors to road traffic fatalities and injuries.