By Jones Anlimah
Figures from the Volta Regional Office of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), indicate an increase in road accidents in the region.
The region recorded a total of 241 cases of road accidents from January to July this year, as compared to 211 in the same period in 2022. A total of 56 lives were also lost in road accidents during the same period, compared to 52 deaths during the corresponding period last year.
According to the Volta Regional Office of the Authority, there is the need for drivers and road users alike to exercise heightened caution, adhere to traffic rules, and contribute to reducing the occurrence of road accidents in the region.
The National Road Safety Authority is the lead public institution responsible for road safety management in the country.
Figures from the Volta Regional Office of the Authority show that a total of 241 road accidents were recorded from January to July this year. The figure represents an increase of 14.2 percent over last year’s figure of 211 accidents. The region again recorded 56 deaths in the period under review, representing a percentage increment of 7.14 over that of last year’s 52 deaths.
A total of 377 different kinds of vehicles have so far been involved in accidents in the region. Out of the recorded accidents, 217 persons representing 48.63 percent over that of last year’s figure of 146 persons sustained injuries. The region again recorded 63 pedestrian knockdowns, as against 47 last year.
In an interview with GBC NEWS, the Volta Regional Officer of the National Road Safety Authority, Joana Fafa Ayer, said human errors accounted for majority of the accidents recorded.
She noted that the regional office of the Authority, in collaboration with other stakeholders, will shore up road safety awareness campaigns in September this year to help reverse the increasing trend of road accidents and their corresponding fatalities in the region.
“So we are coming up with speed starting from the first week in September right down to the end of the year. We are collaborating with other stakeholders to embark on this combined enforcement/educational activities where we have also identified that excessive speeding is one of the major factors that lead to road traffic crashes and it’s resultant fatalities,” she noted.
She added, “We will be using speed cameras as well as radar systems that will be strategically placed on major risky highways to monitor and capture instances of speeding. We also intend to intensify education at the various terminals, visit schools and carry out education there, and use the media space to educate the travelling public.”
“We are also doing sensitisation on the use of the dual carriage road in the regional capital, Ho, thus the Ho to Sokode road. It is new to us, and many drivers are not very familiar with its usage,” the regional officer added.
The surge in road accidents in the Volta Region should be a wake-up call on the need for responsible driving and collective efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of all road users.