PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION conducted by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service in Tema revealed that the 37-year-old tipper truck driver whose action led to the death of a 53-year-old cleaner at the motorway tollbooth, was changing lanes.
According to the police, the driver, Isaac Osei, was trying to move his heavy duty vehicle from a tollbooth lane to another to beat traffic, but crashed into the booth in the process.
On Monday, at about 06:30am, Osei was driving Howo Sino Truck with registration number GG 3564-20 loaded with gravels from Dawhenya towards Kaneshie, Accra, and when he got to the tollbooth at the Tema Toll Plaza, he knocked down Isaac Koomson.
He also crashed the booth which had Ernest Antwi as the attendant, injuring him in the process.
The truck subsequently ran into the rear of a Nissan Saloon car with registration number GG 5401-15 driven by Emmanuel Arthur with two female passengers on board.
The concrete booth also fell on a Mercedes Benz Actros Truck with registration number GE 7873-18 driven by Emmanuel Agyei who had stopped to pay the toll.
Seven persons who sustained injuries in the accident were rushed to the Tema General Hospital for treatment.
Chief Superintendent William Asante, Commander of the Tema MTTD told DAILY GUIDE via telephone that “We initially thought the driver was even drunk but when we tested him he was not drunk.”
He said “what we have noticed is that the driver was trying to change lanes in order to move faster and thought the vehicle he ran into had finished paying toll and was moving but that driver was rather collecting his ticket.”
He debunked rumour that the driver was asleep behind the steering wheel when the accident occurred.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema