Right from the first time we all enter school, one of the poems we are taught is “When you see a traffic light”.
This poem says when you see a traffic light, there is something you should know. Red❤ means stop! Yellow 💛means get ready,  Green💚 means go go go and go!
Many Ghanaian children know this poem and for many years as we grow, this poem remains in their heads! What do we see on our roads today? Long  heavy traffic! With many of the vehicles overloaded.  The roads are choked with buses, mini-buses which run tro-tro, taxis, private cars, and motorcycles. All the vehicles are in a hurry to go where I can’t tell. In their hurry, some of the drivers forget the road is not solely theirs, no wonder it’s not strange to hear words like ‘kwasia’,  ‘w’abodam’, ‘w’a gyimi’ and so on on our roads when one driver is not driving according to the rules and regulations of the road. What happens when these words are said by road users to their colleagues?
Some drivers may respond in like manner, others may not mind at all, some may just laugh it off and others too may just apologise for their wrong. Interestingly, some may even pack their vehicles and exchange words or worst still, exchange blows. All these not withstanding, using the high way is fun, exciting and interesting.
If all we who use the road; pedestrians, cyclists and drivers are following the rules and regulations of the road, then I think we’ll all enjoy the use of our roads and that will reduce the number of road accidents recorded on our roads.
Records  from the National Road Safety Commission indicates that in the first quarter of 2015 alone, there was a total of 2,863 road traffic clashes  involving 4,335 vehicles of which 395 people lost their lives. How pathetic!  Most of these deaths could have been prevented if we are more careful.
The traffic is sometimes so heavy that the police have to come in to direct the movement of vehicles and in such situations, green does not always mean go. In such a situation, Â vehicles will move when it is red or yellow! No wonder the small boy who was with his family in their car started weeping when his father was driving through the traffic that showed red. This is because his teacher taught him that vehicles can only move when the light is green
But I always ask myself, can’t anything be done about this traffic situation in our cities and other big towns? The earlier something is done about it, the better for all of us because I am yet to buy my Range Rover  and many more are yet to buy their Camries, Corallas, Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, Highlanders, Limosines, Tundra,  Pajeros, Hammers, 4Ă—4 and so on as  well!
