PPC: Alcohol leading cause of road accidents

By ZACHERY PER
DRIVING while under the influence of alcohol is one of the leading causes of road accident-related deaths, Eastern Highlands police commander Supt David Seine says.
He said driving a car while being drunk was a common traffic offence which not only put the lives of the driver and passengers at risk but also bystanders.
Supt Seine said that after an employee of the China Wuyi Civil Engineering Construction Company caused the death of a man and injured six others at Asaro village in Daulo, Goroka, last Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Paul Mehuwo, 28, from Asaro.
Supt Seine cautioned drivers to consider the safety of their passengers.
He said police would set up a checkpoint along the Eastern Highlands section of the Highlands Highway to monitor drivers and vehicles.
The accident happened last Saturday when Worick Litimuso, an employee of the construction company, crashed the vehicle he was driving.
Litimuso was driving from Asaro with his cousin Mehuwo (deceased) and his wife Christina Paul and four others in the car.
According to eye witness Kongun Siwi, he claimed Litimuso was under the influence of alcohol was speeding and failed to negotiate a sharp corner at 7-Mile and it overturned and rolled three times on the road before going off the road and into a garden.
The driver and other passengers were seriously injured and admitted to the Goroka Provincial Hospital.
Supt Seine said police arrived at the scene fo the accident in time and saved the injured and the vehicle from being stripped off parts.