BETWEEN ROAD ACCIDENTS AND DISEASE – A COMPETITION FOR
SOULS?
When I was young, I was made to believe that Sexually
Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are very dangerous beyond countenance. The captain
of these unmerciful life sweepers was the callous HIV AIDS that spared not its
victims.
Several narratives and pictures demonstrated the immense
danger associated with the disease. They were awful to listen to and scary to
look at. The cliché that it had no cure made the disease gain massive currency
with strings of spirituality also attached to it. Stories surrounding the
disease were woeful to the extent that it would be the last experience one
would wish their enemies to suffer.
Tagged as the direct agent to death, war was launched
against the disease. There was the establishment of the Ghana AIDS Commission
to organize an army and lead the fight. Budgets were allocated. Supports were
solicited. In fact the campaign was impressive – so impressive to the extent
that unprotected sex became a taboo. Abstinence was preached, but I don’t think
that feat was achievable. The sale of
condom boomed. In school, the disease produced examinable questions. For some
of us, questions that demanded the causes, symptoms, and prevention of the
disease came as a bonus.
Interestingly, I have never encountered anyone declared to
have died of HIV AIDS. Probably such instances were concealed to avoid
stigmatization. Once in a while, I hear instances elsewhere, but they are so
rare to be numbered. Even though perceived carriers suffer discrimination, they
live as “normal” as a sound and healthy person may appear. Meanwhile, it is
still regarded as a direct agent to death and the stigmatization holds.
If this perception is true, then I would say that the
supposed agent of death have not been “productive” enough, compared the likes
of Diabetes, Kidney failure, Cancer, hypertension, and other diet-related
diseases. These less regarded diseases are becoming chronic and are killing
beyond measure. Ironically, no such collective fights have been launched
against them.
Nonetheless, there seems to be the existence of an
unpredictable agent of death that has proven very efficient in its services
than most deadly diseases. It has lived with us since the making of the first
car and construction of the first road. The havoc it has done to man over the
years is horrific. At least, the deadliest disease announces a possibility of
death from the onset. Road crushes give no clue. They come around unexpectedly
and leave a mark of terror and horror in the minds of its “unprepared” victims.
However, it appears we are much more enthusiastic on the
fight against presumed scary diseases than the scariest one that sweeps souls
spontaneously. No agent of death can transport tenths of souls onto the land of
the dead within a minute. No cruel disease can weed hundreds of souls in a
year. Just last week, it managed to bag fourteen souls unexpectedly. This is
very alarming. To me, it is not an agent of death. It is death itself operating
live.
As a matter of fact, road accidents really do not occur by
accident. We create them by our actions as reckless drivers, lawless
pedestrians, “dumb” passengers, and irresponsible government and regulators. We
create them when commercial drivers do not go through physical, mental, and
visual screening before license is issued. We create them when DVLA charge
illicit fees to pass out failed applicants. We create them when MTTD officers
become too permissive for a corrupt price. We create them when imported spare
parts do not go through quality checks before sales. We create them when car
owners demand outrageous sales, forcing drivers to hunt for passengers through
all reckless means. We encourage their occurrence when the Road Safety Commission become good at issuing
road safety tips than liaising with respective agencies to ensure that road
signs, traffic lights, streetlights are evenly distributed where necessary. We
encourage them when the campaign against road accidents become vibrant only
when an immediate one has just occurred.
It is for a fact that both diseases and road crushes are
inevitable to man. Interestingly, we [humans] create them. Our reckless habits
either initiate or escalate them. Poor eating habits would definitely warrant
health complications. Narratives about recent gory accidents rule them as purely
human mistakes that were avoidable. I rate over-speeding as the prevalent cause
of serious road crushes in Ghana. All you would hear is the yell of a horn. The
next is a bang. It appears sounding the horn is comfortable than applying the
brakes.
Lots of metal guards on our high roads have been crushed and
destroyed. No replacement has been made. A typical one can be located on the
Achimota – Pokuwasi stretch. Does it imply that they are done serving their
purpose once they are crushed?
We should not blame road accidents on unseen forces when the
causes can always be identified. Together, we can make this bloody agent powerless.
We are all potential victims.
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