News broke out on Thursday, April 18, 2024 that the newly acquired train, which was on a test drive on the Tema-Mpakadan railway line had been involved in an accident. The following is a press statement issued by the police.
“The Ghana Police Service has arrested the driver of a Hyundai truck, with registration number GS 9018 – 20 for allegedly causing an accident involving a Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) train on the Tema-Mpakadan railway line today, Thursday, 18th April, 2024.
Police preliminary investigation has established that the suspect driver left the said vehicle unattended on the railway line, leading to a collision with the train.”
A day after the issuance of this statement, there were media reports that the driver at the centre of the drama had been dragged to court, where he pleaded guilty and was accordingly jailed six months.
Earlier, there were rumours on social media that opponents of the government were behind the accident. The owner of the truck, however, debunked the claim, insisting that what happened was a pure accident and nothing else.
In an interview he granted to the media, the man who described himself as a businessman, said his driver had loaded blocks meant for customers around the accident scene. He claimed that when he (driver) got to the underpass, he struggled to drive through it. However, when he was returning after offloading the blocks, he could not go through the underpass because of the height of the truck.
According to him (truck owner), the driver was able to go through initially because the load he was carrying had suppressed the height of the truck. Not knowing how to cross to the other side of road, the driver, according to the car owner, decided to climb over the railway line, but unfortunately got stuck.
The truck owner, who again claimed his driver did not know there was going to be a test drive on the line, went out to look for support to enable him remove the truck, only for the accident to happen.
Though the whole accident looks weird to us, we will not subscribe to the idea that it was a political sabotage. The owner of the truck, we believe, was sincere with the statement he made when he spoke to the media. We are, nevertheless, happy that the driver has promptly been jailed after pleading guilty to the charges preferred against him by the state.
One of the major problems confronting this country is the haphazard way the citizens do things. It is common to see people throwing away rubbish through the windows of moving cars onto the streets, without any shred of shame. When you go to the various car parks and markets, you would see people throw away rubbish with careless abandon.
Meanwhile, the authorities would have provided dustbins in these places, but because of the mind-set that somebody would come and sweep their mess, these dustbins are ignored.
Meanwhile, when these people who are putting up these strange behaviours get the opportunity to travel to either Europe or United States of America, they will dare not exhibit the same conduct there. They know that when they do, they will be arrested.
Now back to the issue we are discussing. If this driver had found himself in the same situation in Europe or United States of America, would he have mustered the courage to cross the railway line with his truck, as he did on the Tema-Mpakadan line? The answer will obviously be a big no!
Unfortunately, because we have allowed indiscipline to destroy every fibre of our society, he (driver) did not blink his eye before executing his plan of driving the truck across the railway line, when that place has not been designated as a level crossing.
With the much publicity that has been given to this particular incident and the subsequent jailing of the driver, The Chronicle believes enough warnings have been given to drivers who may be contemplating of doing same in future. As the adage goes, a stitch in time saves nine.
