Available statistics on road traffic crashes and casualties as at 30th October this year indicate that, 11,159 crashes have so far been recorded nationwide involving 18,063 vehicles including 3,156 motorcycles which have resulted in 1,921persons killed and 11,130 persons injured.
Making a statement on the policies and programmes being instituted by the Transport Ministry to address road accident problems in the country, on the floor of Parliament, the sector minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, noted that “2,602 pedestrians were knocked down over this period of which 626 were killed.
These statistics show increase in all the parameters, with the exception of pedestrian knockdown which shows a decrease of 5. 48% over the same period last year 2017”.
According to him, this year has been a very bad year for road safety in the country considering that the issue of road traffic crashes has been highlighted daily in the media, including the crash involving the Deputy Minister of Communications, George Andah, on the Kasoa-Winneba Road and the series of Pedestrian knockdowns on the Medina Adenta highway, which led to the huge public outcry few weeks ago and consequently the spontaneous demonstration by the community on 8th of November, 2018, after the death of a 1st year student of West African Senior High School.
He said, “while we discuss the road safety situation, we must recognise that the road safety challenge is one largely borne out of our own failures to act proactively and responsibly as Public Agencies in responding to road safety issues quickly with policy and real interventions”, stressing the point that, “most of the crashes could also have been prevented if road-users had been disciplined and demonstrated responsibility for safe road use practices and compliance with existing road regulations as drivers, pedestrians, passengers, motorcyclists and operators of road transport services.”
“As a first step and with immediate effect, my Ministry has in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior and Roads and highways, instructed our responsible agencies comprising: National Road Safety Commission, Motor Tragic and Transport Department of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Highway Authority, Department of Urban Roads and Department of Feeder Roads, to scale up their activities regarding sensitization, enforcement of road traffic regulations especially on travel speeds and provision of appropriate road furniture, road signs and roadway markings.”
The Minister announced that cabinet has granted an approval to the proposal for the National Road Safety Commission to be transformed into an Authority with new mandate to, “regulate/enforce institutional standard s for road safety related activities and issue appropriate sanctions for non-compliance.”
Story Edzorna Francis Mensah
