The new George Walker Bush highway, just recently hailed as a milestone in economic development is now being called a death trap. The folks who live on either side of the highway are crossing it because the six footbridges are too few and far apart. There ahve been 13 fatalities of pedestrians since the highway reopened February 15th. In addition, because traffic isn't clogged, drivers can go faster; there have been 34 accidents since last month, too. Estimates of death tolls vary.
"Major Albert Don Chebe, Public Affairs Manager of the Millennium Development Authority(MiDA), said the road was built to a particular specification but after it had been completed, its shortcomings became obvious." Chebe noted that there is no more money for constructing new footbridges from the MiDA and that it was up to the Ghanaian government to sort it out.
In other transport news, this morning a taxi was careening down my road carrying a car-load of little kids going to school. There must have been six or seven of them in a car about the size of a Civic. Not a seatbelt around any one of them. Sadly, very common.
The other day, on the exact same stretch of road, I saw two cars trying to pass in opposite directions on a narrow stretch. One had to back up a few feet to let the other by and then he could continue on. Neither driver would give in. They sat staring at each other while cars piled up behind the one driver. I have seen this time and again. Guess backing up is backing down.
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