Another vehicle accident this morning in the city of Port Moresby that occurred along the independence boulevard at Waigani right in front of the National Parliament, is yet another statistic in the rise in road accidents in the capital city.
The accident involved two vehicles, a white sedan and a black sports utility vehicle (SUV). Fortunately, none of the occupants of the two vehicles received serious injuries. Only the driver of the white sedan had St John Ambulance officers attend to him. He had a cut on his forehead that was later treated and bandaged. He was up and walking after that.
What is even concerning was that the accident took place where the traffic lights are, but unfortunately those traffic lights have not been working for some time to control the movement of vehicles along the road.
Police were already at the scene when PNG HAUSBUNG arrived on site. Traffic officers were taking notes and statements from the occupants, and it was discovered that alcohol was involved as a parcel containing beer cans was taken out of one of the vehicles by police and place on it.
Once again, the consumption of alcohol and driving is the case here and it is quite concerning too because if drink- driving is going unchecked by road safety authorities including the police, it creates a scary situation on the roads in the city where drunk drivers roam freely posing threat to other motorists on the road especially on the weekends.
The way forward now to address this serious matter, is for the police and the Road Traffic Authority to conduct regular road checks to ensure drivers are not intoxicated, or whether a vehicle is registered and road worthy to be running on the roads and highways.
