DISTRACTED DRIVING DEMARCHE DELIVERED

UNCLAS ACCRA 000102 DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W AND OES/S/NANCY CARTER-FOSTER SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELTN ECON SOCI GH SUBJECT: DISTRACTED DRIVING DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 6703 ¶1. We delivered reftel demarche regarding road safety and distracted driving to Twumasi-Ankrah Selby, Chief Director of Ghana's Ministry of Transport, and Noble Appiah, Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission. Mr. Selby told us that the issue of distracted driving had been the subject of recent attention at the ministry, with the increasing use of cell phones by Ghanaian drivers for both talking and texting. (NOTE: Recent UNCTAD statistics indicate that there are more than 11.5 million mobile phone subscriptions in Ghana, representing a penetration rate of 48.32 percent, and the compound annual growth rate in cellular subscriptions was 70.63 percent for the period 2003-2008. END NOTE.) ¶2. Observing that there had been no major overhaul of Ghana's road safety regulations since the 1970s, Selby noted that the ministry was now in the final stages of approving new rules. Those regulations would be sent to the Cabinet for final approval within the next few weeks, and he expected that they would be submitted to Parliament by the end of March 2010. While current law did not prohibit the use of cell phones while driving, he stated that the new regulations would include a broad ban on cell phone use while driving, including both speaking by phone and texting, even if the driver was using a hands-free mobile or wireless device. ¶3. Mr. Appiah noted that the Road Safety Commission and Ministry of Transport did not keep statistics on the frequency of driving accidents involving distracted driving or texting while driving, nor was he aware of any recent studies of the issue. He participated in the Moscow Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in November 2009, along with Ghana's Minister of Transport, where the issue of distracted driving had been discussed. The GOG would plan to have someone from Ghana's UN Mission in New York attend the upcoming UN Road Safety Collaboration Meeting in March 2010, he said. ¶4. Turning to broader questions of road safety, Mr. Selby said that Ghana's biggest challenges included driver fatigue, speeding, and disabled vehicles obstructing thoroughfares and posing a hazard to motorists. In that regard, the ministry was considering whether the new road rules should include provisions requiring a mandatory rest period for long-haul commercial drivers and the use of speed limiters on commercial vehicles. GOG financing for a towing service to remove disabled vehicles was also under consideration in the new regulatory framework. Other challenges included poor driver skills and poorly maintained roads, though a better road infrastructure might also lead to more accidents from speeding, which had been a perverse but not uncommon problem after previous major road improvements in Ghana, he observed. Finally, he noted that the ministry would be launching a major driving skills initiative in 2010, including establishing a National Drivers' Academy. TEITELBAUM