Ghanaian radio/TV personality-KOD survived a ‘near death’ accident on Tuesday’s night on the N1 motorway in Accra—following which he was admitted to the 37 Military hospital.
Though no one was killed or really hurt apart from KOD himself, GhanaCelebrities.Com has listened around including to KOD himself as to what happened—and the question some of us are asking is, was he drink driving or what?
According to KOD, he was returning from a relative’s birthday party where obviously alcohol would have been served and knowing KOD, he definitely would have had a glass or a couple—but we cannot say if he was over the limit or not (that is if alcohol was involved).
KOD has explained what happened as follows; while driving on N1 he saw a truck parked in the middle of the road and at that point, he was left with the option of either to try and brake before reaching the truck, run to the other side of the road where there was an incoming car and collide with the car—or the drive off the road into the ditch.
He couldn’t really brake before hitting the parked truck—which begs the question; what was his speed and why couldn’t he really stop—and was drive driving or not?
We are not punching holes into KOD’s accident and we feel sorry for him but who actually checks to ensure accident drivers were not drink driving in Ghana, even if popular people?
When accidents happen in our part of the world, much is not really done to establish the cause—even if people are killed or injured. If this was anywhere in Europe or America, breathalyzer would have been quickly pulled out by the police the moment it became obvious the driver was returning from a party—where he could possible have had some drinks.
A lot of people drink and drive in Ghana—and this is due to the absence of proper monitoring by our law enforcement agencies.
Kids, never drink and drive!
Well, it’s reasonable to argue from that angle, taking the occasion (party) into consideration. It’s however reasonable to also argue from a different point of view to somewhat balance the equation.
Most roads in Gh do not have working streetlights and if you ply the H1N1 road, you would realise that the highway is not an exception, making it very difficult to drive safely at night. Somewhere last year I guess, it was reported that some of the streetlights on the H1N1 had been stolen by unknown people. Out of all vehicles in Gh, about 3/4 of the drivers do not have warning triangles to alert approaching vehicles.
It could be that KOD was not drink driving but the state of the road prevented him from spotting the parked car on time..
It is a highway, there should be a ‘no standing’ policy on it. Meaning no one should park on it. Secondly if you happen to break down on it, you ought to have it towed immediately or the police should tow it to their yard and send you a bill for the cost of towing. Your vehicle is kept until you pay. It is that simple.
I have travelled on the road from Legon to Dansoman and also on a visit to cape coast. Aside from the lack of street lights, it is also full of wannabe “drivers” who should have been riding donkeys instead of operating a vehicle. Those not qualified to even drive on a go-cart circuit. Idiots with no brains except a shit-eating grin and bad manners. Once you’ve seen them, you will easily conclude that the maker of whatever vehicle they are driving never anticipated them to be anywhere near the steering wheel. And yet they behave like the cars were made for them, the highway is the autobahn or a testing ring and they are test drivers.
You also have to contend with jaywalkers and hawkers who run across the road even at night. This is what makes the highway dangerous like H1N1 virus.
That said, if you value your life, extra caution is warranted on that highway. Don’t speed when you cannot see ahead and don’t tailgate either. Ghana drivers don’t believe in leaving a space between them and the next car. So don’t behave like a Ghanaian driver. This gentleman could have avoided the accident had he taken these steps. His choices would not have been a ditch, on coming traffic or driving straight into a parked truck. I hope he’s learned his lesson on what not to do on that highway.