These included 20 commercial vehicles, 10 private cars, and 23 motorcycles.

The accidents resulted in 10 deaths and 78 injuries, marking a significant increase compared to the previous year, 2023.

The Acting Regional Head of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) in Oti, Ms. Theresa Agyeman, attributed the rise in casualties to speeding and wrongful overtaking, particularly among motorcyclists.

August recorded the highest number of crashes with 8, while February and March had the lowest with only 2 each.

The months of April and July saw the highest fatalities, recording 3 deaths each.

The region also witnessed a sharp increase in pedestrian knockdowns.

Nine pedestrians, mostly children, were knocked down during this period, representing a 125% rise from the 4 cases recorded in 2023.

Motorcycles contributed to 43.40% of the crashes, followed by commercial vehicles at 37.74% and private vehicles at 18.87%.

Ms. Agyeman explained that the high rate of motorcycle-related accidents was due to poor regulation, lack of training, and weak enforcement of traffic laws.

To address this, she said the NRSA collaborated with the Police and engaged motorcyclists through education on the dangers of reckless riding and the importance of complying with road safety regulations, particularly helmet use.

Research indicates that road crashes tend to increase during election years.

To counter this trend, Ms. Agyeman said the NRSA has taken proactive measures, including revising the road safety political code and engaging political parties to promote safer practices during campaigns.

Ms. Agyeman emphasized that the NRSA has intensified road safety campaigns on radio and sensitized political actors and their supporters about the dangers of reckless driving and riding during election periods.

The NRSA remains committed to reducing road accidents and improving road safety through collaboration, education, and enforcement.

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This alarming statistic was revealed during the ‘Akwan So Dwoodoo’ road safety awareness campaign organized by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, and various road safety advocacy groups.

The campaign aims to promote road safety before, during, and after the Christmas festivities.

Speaking to Adom News, the Ashanti Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Kwasi Agyenim Boateng, underscored the urgent need for heightened awareness and responsible driving practices to curb the growing menace of road crashes.

“The high number of fatalities serves as a stark reminder that collective action is needed to address this challenge. We must all prioritize road safety,” he stated.

He urged drivers, passengers, motor riders, and other stakeholders to intensify road safety campaigns and practice vigilance on the roads, particularly as the Christmas season approaches.

Other officials at the event also emphasized the importance of adhering to traffic regulations, reminding the public that protecting lives during this festive season must be a shared responsibility.

The campaign calls on all road users to ensure safety and avoid actions that put lives at risk as Christmas celebrations draw closer.

Source: Isaac K. Normanyo

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The global health institution said those policies must promote sustainable transportation systems, improved legislative road safety frameworks, investment in data management systems, improved post-crash response, and research tailored to the continent’s unique challenges.

It further stressed that the policies must be targeted at dealing with a myriad of factors that triggered road crashes, including lethargic enforcement of traffic laws, potholed roads, speeding and drunk driving and limited safety education targeting road users.

WHO made the call as part of recommendations of its 2023 status report on road safety in the African region, which was launched in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, last Tuesday.

Findings

The report indicated that Africa had become an epicentre of deaths arising from road crashes, exerting strain on the continent’s public health infrastructure and threatening efforts to attain SDG 3.6 – halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030.

For instance, the report established that although the continent accounted for 15 per cent of the global population and three per cent of vehicles, it recorded 20 per cent of all road crash deaths in the world.

Again, the report revealed that road traffic death rates in the past decade had increased significantly in the African region, with almost 250,000 lives lost on the continent’s roads in 2021 alone.

Specifically, from 2010 to 2021, deaths from road crashes in Africa increased by 17 per cent, while the global rates fell by five per cent.

It added that males aged between 15 and 64 years were the main victims of road traffic crashes, with vulnerable road users, such as motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians, being the worst affected.

Lapses

The report attributed the rise to multiple factors, including inadequate road safety laws and standards, indicating: “no country in the region currently has laws that meet the best practice standards for the five key road safety behavioural risk factors – speeding, drink driving, non-use of motorcycle helmets, seatbelts and child restraints.”
It added that limited investments in alternative modes of transport, including cycling and walking, had fuelled road-related fatalities on the continent, with 13 per cent of countries having national strategies to promote walking or cycling.

“These so-called multimodal transport systems have been determined to be more equitable and environmentally friendly, and safer for road users,” the report added.

The report added that post-crash care services in the region were inadequate or unavailable in most countries – fewer than one-third have services that met recommended levels of access to pre-hospital care, emergency care, and treatment and rehabilitation services.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said the findings of the report pointed to a serious public health concern for African countries, “with hundreds of thousands of lives being lost unnecessarily”.

“As WHO, we’re committed to working hand in hand with countries to tackle this preventable threat and continue to fully support all efforts to make our roads safer for motorists and pedestrians alike,” he said.

Action

The WHO representative in Kenya, Abdourahmane Diallo, stated that for Africa to reduce the burden of road accidents, countries needed to revamp transport infrastructure, retrain motorists, and promote safety education targeting motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.

During this period, 1,237 people died, and 7,561 were injured.

Compared to 2023, the number of reported cases, vehicles involved, persons injured, and pedestrian knockdowns in 2024 all decreased.

However, the number of fatalities increased by 13% compared to the same period in 2023.

The Head of Public Relations at the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Pearl Adosu, attributed the increase in fatalities to wrongful overtaking and speeding.

“The contributory factor might be as a result of head-on collisions are as a result of wrongful overtaking and over speeding. Research has shown that about 90% of our drivers plying our roads in the country do not adhere to speed limits in the country and when the speed limit is high the severity of the crash is high,” she said.

March 2024 recorded the highest number of crashes with 1,145, while June had the fewest with 1,044. March also had the highest number of deaths, with 240.

From January to June 2024, 1,219 pedestrians were knocked down, a decrease of 1.9% from 2023 when 1,212 pedestrians were knocked down.

Private vehicles constituted the largest proportion of vehicles involved in crashes from January to June 2024, representing 43%, followed by commercial vehicles at 34% and motorcycles at 23%.

“Because the riders were not being properly regulated and there was no training or no proper enforcement, we saw hikes in the crashes and the fatalities rate but when we looked at the trend, we immediately collaborated with Ghana Police Service, and we established a relationship with the motor riders and so they have formed associations. We go to them, we do town hall meetings for them, we call facilitators to come and talk to them, sensitize them, educate them on the impact of their reckless riding and we have seen that it has helped mostly in the urban cities,” Adosu explained.

The Bono Region saw the highest percentage increase in deaths, with a 77.8% rise compared to the same period in 2023. The Oti Region recorded the highest percentage decrease in crashes, with a 50% reduction.

Research indicates that road crashes increase every election year, but NRSA officials said measures have been implemented to curb this trend.

“We have gone into discourse with the various political parties, we have engaged them, we have also been able to review the road safety political code of 2008 and so they are all aware of what they should do during the campaign. We will still go to their various national, regional, constituency and branch offices and sensitise them on the impact of reckless driving or recklessness during the campaign.”

According to them, number of road traffic accidents have occurred as a result of the malfunctioning traffic light.

The situation is worrying because they said school children use that road to commute to and from school each day.

Residents who spoke on The People’s Forum, a segment on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem Thursday revealed that, the traffic lights had been off for the past four years.

“They haven’t fixed the traffic lights since it went off. If they don’t fix it, the cars will continue to kill people. It’s been over 4 years” a resident bemoaned.

A youth leader in the area claimed people are killed by speeding vehicles every week.

He said several petitions sent to the district Assembly have not yielded any a positive response.

“Almost every week there is an accident. We have sent several petitions, and they are always saying they will come and fix it. We are always going to meetings yet it yields no results” he bemoaned.

The Assemblyman of the area pledged to find a permanent solution to the traffic lights problem.

“I was inaugurated just last week, it’s one of my priorities. We are taking steps to work on it” he said.

Speaking on The Law show, he explained that usually when accidents occur, victims might not be able to make claims right away or shortly after due to injuries and others, hence the limitations on the claims.

“So within three years after the loss, if you have suffered an injury and then you are hospitalized or anything, I mean…, you are not able to report. You still have within three years within which to bring the claim. 

He stated that “If somebody is a child or somebody is of an unsound mind, we call that a disability in law. So even though there’s a three-year period within which you can bring the claim, if you’re under some form of disability, then the period of limitation does not run until you are out of that disability.”

“So if you were a child, for example, that means you are below the age of 18, so that that period of limitation, which is three years, does not start to run until you come out of that disability. And if you’re out of unsound mind, that same information applies to you,” he noted.

Additionally, Mr Koranteng said that victims whose properties were damaged in the course of the accident have a six-year period of limitations to make their claim.

“So in terms of the period within which you can bring the claim, it’s three years for injury and death, and then six years for property damage.”

Meanwhile, he cautioned accident victims against some actions that could get their insurance claims rejected.

He urged drivers to get appropriate licenses for the cars they drive, explaining, “I have a B license and I’m driving a vehicle that requires a C license, I’ve not been trained or certified by DVLA to drive that kind of vehicle.”

Mr Koranteng also urged victims to not only take pictures and videos of accident scenes but also report to the police.

“Some people (while) leaving, apart from not taking the pictures at all, do not report immediately and then they go ahead and repair the vehicles. By the time they come to the insurance company, the vehicle is already repaired. And then the question now is,  what was the extent of damage at the time the accident happened?”

“If you have repaired the vehicle, it’s difficult to now go back and then ascertain that this was the actual damage that happened to the vehicle. So if you take the pictures, fine, and you go to repair it, how do we know what is the extent of damage?”.

Mr Koranteng advised victims report the issue to their insurance company and only fix it after a go-ahead from them.

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Road accidents have caused several needless deaths in this country.

Statistics indicate a very horrifying epidemic that is talked about for a while, cried about for a while and then goes back to sleep after.

According to the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) division of the Ghana Police Service, a total of 1,250 people have died from road accidents from January to May this year which is higher than deaths caused by Covid-19.

Also, 1,309 people have sustained injuries at that same time representing a 26.72% increase from last year.

According to the National Road Safety Authority, the country loses about 1.7% of its Gross Domestic Products (GDP) every year to road collisions in addition to the loss of lives. This is not a problem, it is not an issue.

This is not a crisis, it is definitely an epidemic.

The major contributing factors of roads accidents in the country include the ever-recurring poor nature of roads, carelessness of road users, faulty vehicles, stressed driving, unskilled driving, inadequate road signs, overspeeding, drunkenness and parked vehicles along the road which is not talked about much.

A recent example is what happened on August 24, on the Gomoa Mpotoa stretch in the Central Region claiming one life and a two-year-old injured as a result of an abandoned vehicle on a major highway like the Accra-Cape Coast highway.

Road accidents effects are mostly lifetime; from mental to emotional to physical injury. Emotional distress, fear, anger, humiliation, anxiety, shock, sexual dysfunction and many more are some effects of road accidents.

Various solutions have been proffered by our experts and employed by governments to stop this epidemic including education, the introduction of tougher laws and incentives but yet these have just not solved the menace of road carnage and the death numbers keep going up.

However, the Centre for Transport Security Dialogue (CETSED) believes that one solution to this epidemic that was vilified and dropped in the trashcan though it was carefully thought through to control this epidemic, is the road towing bill.

This bill, as it was introduced in 2017 by the National Road Safety Authority and the Ministry of Transport was given widespread rejection because of the stakeholders’ failure to organise proper education on the bill to the Ghanaian public.

As the carnage continues unstopped on our roads with many losing their lives needlessly, 11% of the recorded road accidents this year have been caused by faulty abandoned vehicles or wrongly parked vehicles on our major highways.

CETSED is of the highest view that this problem can be solved with the reintroduction of the abandoned road tow bill which when reintroduce must go with an extensive public education devoid of politics.

It is time to save lives and prevent these avoidable carnages on our roads, which is claiming more lives than the dreaded Covid-19!

The Ghanaian road user’s life matters!

Let Ghana be the winner

The 11-month total data remains higher than the total lives lost in 2019 standing at 2,284 a difference of 28.

This is the highest number of road deaths recorded in the last decade even without figures for December 2020; aside 2019, 2012 recorded 2,240 deaths and 2015 recorded the least fatal crashes at 1,802.

The Ashanti Region recorded the most casualties of 497, higher than its 2019 figure of 448.

The Eastern Region as of November 2020 had lost 341 lives to place third in the roll.

Greater Accra recorded 410 as against the 449 recorded last year, with Accra alone recording 247 related deaths in the period under review.

North East Region featured the least lives lost with 12 recorded cases.

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This year’s data covered all the 16 Regions: Central Region recorded 221; Western Region 106; Volta Region 120; Northern Region 60; Upper West Region 52; Upper East Region 66; Bono Region 102; Bono East Region 129; Ahafo Region 62; Oti Region 30; Savana Region 28; and West-North Region 74.

Crashes involving private cars recorded 9,050, commercial vehicles recorded 8,446, and Motor or Cycle clashes at 5,111.

The report from January to November 2020 showed total clashes of 22,607 vehicles were involved; whiles 2,442 pedestrian were knockdown and 13,787 persons were injured.

The National Road Safety Commission has noted that the nation loses over $230 million annually due to road crashes and within the last 28 years, over 46,000 Ghanaians have been killed in road accidents nationwide.

According to the Commission inattention and over-speeding on the part of drivers remained the leading causes of road crashes in recent times.

According to Superintendent Alex Obeng, the menace has been addressed with lip service instead of the desired commitment.

“From 2011 to 2020 the measures we put in place in dealing with road accidents were not impressive and we need to up our game because on the average, 6 people die each day from accidents in Ghana it’s even worse during the weekends,” he said.

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Speaking on Adom TV’s Nnaw)twe Yi show, Supt. Obeng urged the government must, as a matter of urgency, roll out effective and workable road safety measure to deal with the menace.

“We are now all living in fear due to the widespread of coronavirus but we have forgotten we have a more deadly situation on our roads we have abandoned. We need to treat road accident the same way we are working to curb the coronavirus,” he lamented.

Meanwhile, he stressed there must be enforced regulations to ensure drivers comply with road safety regulations.

The initiative which will be replicated across 30 cities around the world that have made exemplary progress in combating road traffic deaths of which Ghana’s Accra and Kumasi have been included.

The new fund is to “effectively implement best-practice road safety activities, including running hard-hitting media campaigns to raise road user understanding of risk factors, training the police force in best practice enforcement and redesigning high-crash, high-fatality corridors and intersection,” a statement by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety, Ghana has said.

The initiative hopes to reduce deaths on high-mortality roads, including interstate highways, through reduced speed limits, wider use of helmet and seat belts, and fewer drivers speeding and drinking and driving.

The press statement explained the intention is to save 600,000 more lives and to prevent up to 22 million injuries worldwide.

Road traffic injuries are the 8^th leading cause of death globally and the number one killer of people ages five-29. More than 1.35 million people die and up to 50 million are seriously injured in road traffic crashes each year.

 Additionally, the economic losses are staggering – a recent report released by the World Bank found that, reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by half could add 7-22% to GDP per capita in five selected low- and middle-income countries over the next 24 years.   

Below is the statement:

Their plea follows the Dompoase accident on the Elmina-Takoradi Highway which claimed 34 lives and left a significant number injured and another on the Kumasi Abrepo Highway a day later.

The party in a statement signed by Communications Director, Paa Kow Ackon, challenged the government to “declare war on corruption, which contributes directly and indirectly to the unacceptably high levels of road traffic accidents in our country.”

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The party called for the integration of Road Traffic Injury Prevention into the Development and Management of road infrastructure.

The PPP said the integration should also comprise of the provision and inspection of safer vehicles, law enforcement, mobility planning, the provision of health and hospital services, child welfare services and urban and environmental planning.

The statement read; ACT ON ROAD ACCIDENTS NOW! – PPP

The Progressive People’s Party wishes to extend its heartfelt condolences to the families, who have lost their loved ones, and sympathy to those who have been injured following the tragic road accidents at Dompoase on the Elmina-Takoradi Highway on 14th January, 2020 and the Kumasi Abrepo Highway, on 15th January, 2020. We wish to thank all the emergency service providers and individuals involved in assisting the victims.

Ghanaians traveling by road and never returning home, leaving behind shattered families, hundreds of people spending months and years in hospital after terrible accidents and many not being able to return to their normal life, are critical public health problems and development crisis which must not be side stepped by any government.

Available information from the World Health Organization and the World Bank indicates that road traffic injuries alone cost Ghana 1.5% of our gross national product, which is more than the total development aid we receive.

We are challenging the government to declare war on corruption, which contributes directly and indirectly to the unacceptably high levels of road traffic accidents in our country.

As a party, we are committed to dealing with the corruption of these problems. State institutions such as the DVLA, NRSC, MTTD, Highways Authority and others must be strengthened in the enforcement of legislation to control speed and alcohol consumption, mandating the use of seatbelts, crash helmets, and the safer design and use of roads and vehicles.

Having ambulances to transport patients to medical facilities is helpful but studies have shown, that the primary factor in reducing mortality from trauma is not the speed of transportation but the administration of life-saving care prior to arrival at the hospital.

Important aspects in addressing mortality on our roads which a PPP government will explore are the towing of unsafe vehicles from our roads with a sense of urgency and the construction of inter-regional highways.

We recommend that Road traffic injury prevention must be integrated into the development and management of road infrastructure, the provision and inspection of safer vehicles, law enforcement, mobility planning, the provision of health and hospital services, child welfare services, urban and environmental Planning.

A PPP government will ensure that, by the end of our first term in office, every town and village will have at least one licensed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) within 5-10 miles that will be on call every day of every year.

We will reward commercial vehicle drivers who become certified in basic first aid and crash scene management with an incentive such as quarterly payments of GHc300, disbursed into their bank accounts.

With the implementation of the National Identification System, we will ensure that reckless drivers are not given the opportunity and license to repeat their expensive mistakes.

In as much as we agree that human error contributes greatly to such fatalities on our roads, the spiritual aspect cannot be down played. We therefore appeal to Leaders of Religious institutions to encourage their members to fast and pray against such incidents.

Whiles we believe that attitudinal change is the most desired answer, so do we accept as true, that leadership is an action, not a position and the only safe ship in a storm is leadership.

Awake Ghana!

Signed,

Paa Kow Ackon

Communication Director