Road traffic accidents: Over 1,200 deaths recorded between January and June this year

A total of 6,653 road traffic crashes were reported from January to June 2024.

The crashes involved 11,283 vehicles of all categories including private, commercial, motorbikes and cycles. 1,237 died in the period under review with 7,561 injuries.

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

Persons killed, however, increased by 13% compared to the same period of 2023.

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

“The contributory factor might be as a result of head-on collisions and 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,” he said.

The month of March in 2024 recorded the highest number of crashes with 1,145 crashes whilst the month of June recorded the least number of crashes -1,044 crashes.

March also recorded the highest number of deaths – 240 deaths.

A total of 1,219 pedestrians were knocked down from January to June 2024. This represents a decrease of 1.9% over the same period in 2023 where 1,212 persons 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 with 34% and motorcycles with the least proportion of 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,” he said.

The Bono Region had the highest percentage increases in deaths from January to June 2024 with 77.8% when compared to the same period of 2023.

Oti Region recorded the highest percentage decrease in the number of crashes- 50%.

Research shows road crashes increase every election year, but the NRSA officials said measures have been put in place to curb the 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.”

Source:onuaonline.com