Roads are a common mode of transportation for moving people and goods from one location to another. Motorisation has enhanced the lives of many individuals and societies, but the benefits have come at a price.
Every 24 seconds, someone dies on the world’s roads due to a road crash. Every year, 1.3 million people are killed and a further 50 million injured, with the vast majority in developing countries where road deaths are placing a huge strain on healthcare systems and thwarting anti-poverty efforts, according to the World Health Organisation.
In Ghana, statistics from the National Road Safety Authority show a total of 16,410 road traffic casualties involving 23,529 vehicles were reported between January and November 2022, and 2,171 people lost their lives.
According to data from the Ghana Police Service, from January to December 2021, 16,182 road crashes were also recorded, out of which motorcycles contributed 6,166. There were 1,282 fatalities and 4,816 people were injured.
Injuries affect lives
Road accidents have a wide range of consequences for everyone involved, from the physical to the emotional to the social and economic. Overall, in Ghana, the most threatened road user is the person on foot, or on the highway, when trucks and buses are around. With each casualty, there is a tale of lives shattered.
For Kofi Isaac, a commercial motorbike rider at Kasoa, one of the known ‘Okada’ hubs in Ghana, Saturday 22 May 2021 is a day he has played over in his mind countless times.
Isaac used his motorcycle to convey passengers and deliver goods, and he speaks about the moment before accident changed his life.
“I remember like it was yesterday. It was busy, and it was about to be sundown. I was going to deliver items around Mallam. I was aware that there was a vehicle stopped at a junction, but the driver hadn’t seen me. I came from a different junction, and that’s when we collided. I remember seeing the vehicle, and everything just went blank.”
He now spends long days in pain, adjusting his home to his new physical needs, and trying to find a new place in society.
“The injuries I received were to my right thigh and required surgery. I had broken thumbs, and my wrists were damaged. The recovery was long and slow, and I was frustrated at not working and not being able to do simple tasks or care for my family. Now I’m in constant pain. I can barely sleep at night. This is my life now. I have never been on a bike since.”
Isaac thinks the motorcycle business is a means of livelihood.
“Not that we like Okada, but the issue of unemployment is the reason why we are in the business.”
In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile, tragic road crashes that have brought greater national attention to the issue of road safety.
In September 2022, a lecturer and three female students of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) who were on an educational trip to Mount Afadja in the Volta region lost their lives in an accident at Apirede in the Eastern Region.
In January 2020, more than 30 people were killed when two buses crashed head-on at Dompoase on the Cape Coast-Takoradi highway in what President Akufo-Addo described as “horrific”.
My sympathies and condolences go to all the families and loved ones of the deceased in the horrific accident on the Cape Coast-Takoradi Highway, which occurred earlier today. May their souls Rest In Peace. I also wish the injured, a speedy recovery.
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) January 14, 2020
In September 2020, 34 young footballers from Africa Vision Soccer Academy were involved in an accident that killed seven young footballers when a minibus carrying them on the Offinso road plunged into the Ofinso river.
Then, in February 2018, Hiplife Artiste, Ebony Reigns and two others died on the spot when their Jeep vehicle crashed into a bus on the Mankraso-Sunyani stretch of the main Kumasi-Sunyani road.
Public Notice!
There is a fatal accident at Asuboi, near Suhum on the Accra-Kumasi Highway (N6), involving a Universe commercial bus and a stationary 40-footer-container loaded with wood in which 9 passengers have died and leading to the closure of the road. pic.twitter.com/ubU0ukbFZw
— Ghana Police Service (@GhPoliceService) March 13, 2022
Indiscipline and bad roads
Drunk driving, substance abuse, speeding, and wrongful overtaking are among the major causes of accidents and loss of lives and properties. In an interview, Clement Boahene, an Inter City bus driver, mentioned poor road conditions and unsafe road infrastructure as other causes.
“We don’t drive the vehicles in anger. We always pray to God for a safe trip for our passengers and ourselves so that we can return home to see our wives and children. But, the roads in particular are not good. There are a lot of potholes. Drivers swerve and dodge around potholes, and if God is not on your side and you are not cautious, you will die prematurely.”
He also accused law enforcers of compromising on the roads.
“Some police officers collect money sometimes too. At the same time, trailers sometimes park at inappropriate places around steep hills and curves without showing a triangle, and it’s worrying. There is no respect for drivers who drive trucks that carry logs, wood, motorbikes, etc. Sometimes you also don’t understand some drivers. They overtake when negotiating curves and meet you head-on. It’s God that protects us.”
NRSA response
But Acting Director-General of the National Road Safety Authority, David Osafo Adonteng, believes gross indiscipline on the part of drivers and speeding are also to blame for most road crashes. In his view, helping the public understand law enforcement is in their best interest. He revealed these when GBC Ghana Online monitored the activities of some transport providers in Accra before and during Christmas.
“I think you are witnessing one where we are engaging the transport service providers. We’ve done that severally with the leadership but this time around, we have tried to vary it by engaging the people on the ground. You see that we didn’t go to the office in the air condition. We have come to those who are right in the sun, loading, and moving people from terminal to terminal.”
“And as we do the education, sensitisation, and then awareness creation, the police will be supporting us with the enforcement. We are looking at speeding as a risk when it comes to Christmas and occasions like this, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. We’re also looking at wrongful overtaking and overloading, these are four critical things we are looking at now.”
He said undercover operatives will board commercial vehicles as passengers to check compliance with safety regulations.
“We are looking at how road safety inspectors that we have trained are going to operate like undercover passengers. They will be part of the passengers in the buses, but their job will be just monitoring and then giving us feedback in the back offices of the Authority and the police. And then we’ll be forthcoming in apprehending those who will be misbehaving and take some action against them.”
Listen to the full interview here:
Police intervention
The Ghana Police Service says there has been an increase in road traffic offenses in 2022.
The Police believe that arresting and convicting people for traffic violations will reduce the number of fatalities on the road.
At a meeting with motorists, drivers, and other stakeholders, the Director of Education, Research and Training at the Police MTTD, Chief Superintendent Alexander Kweku Obeng, indicated that enforcing traffic laws makes us safer and generates revenue. He advised riders to adhere to traffic regulations and acquire a licence.
“Compared with the same period last year, this year a lot of offenders have been put before motor courts, and a lot have been sentenced or convicted and sentenced with hefty fines to the tune of about GH¢3 million cumulatively, and a lot are in jail, with about 3,800 Ghanaians convicted.”
Public health crisis
The carnage on the world’s roads is a public health crisis of epic proportions that is taking a catastrophic toll not only on individual victims but also on societies as a whole.
In 2019, the top 10 causes of death accounted for 55% of the 55.4 million deaths worldwide. WHO reports that road injuries were one of the top ten leading causes of death in lower-middle-income countries like Ghana.
WHO’s Global Health Observatory estimated the number of road traffic deaths in Ghana at 7,808, more than the number of people who have died from Covid-19.
In 2013, 126,112 transport injuries were reported. These were among the top 20 causes of outpatient morbidity in Ghana, according to the Ministry of Health Facts and Figures, 2015.
Road injuries, according to Dr. Abigail Marnah, a Medical Officer at the Accident, Emergency Unit at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, place a heavy burden on health systems. Emergency rooms, she says, become overcrowded, and care workers are stretched.
She called on stakeholders to organise more educational programmes for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists to reduce road carnage.
“We want them to stay alive, so we want them to please use their helmets and seat-belts, which will help us reduce the head injury cases. When the traffic light is red, we want them to stop. They shouldn’t take alcohol or be on drugs. When you are tired, just stay at home.”
Key lessons
Road traffic injuries can be prevented. From an individual perspective, more people will have to use seat belts, child restraints, wear helmets, reduce their speed, and avoid drinking and driving.
Government needs to take action to address road safety in a holistic manner. This requires involvement from multiple sectors such as transport, police, health, and education, and actions that address the safety of roads, vehicles, and road users.
We have seen best practices in places like Fortaleza, Brazil, that can guide countries in tackling this problem. In Fortaleza, cycling was used to increase road safety awareness.
The mayor reduced speed limits on some of his high-risk roads, police were empowered to enforce laws, and journalists were trained to improve their reporting on the city’s interventions and road safety.
Specific roads and streets should be redesigned so cars will go slower or pedestrians will have an opportunity to cross in a timely amount of time. Another city intervention initiative worth emulating is the Lapaz intersection project.
In 2015, 25 of the 253 traffic-related fatalities occurred around the N1 highway, along which the Lapaz intersection sits, according to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
The AMA and Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) enhanced works at the Lapaz intersection on September 17, 2018.
Works such as shoulder widening, installation of a median or barrier, controlled crosswalks, lane marking and separation, and intersections reduced the risk of road traffic fatalities and injuries for all road users.
Safety measures approved by the European Commission included intelligent speed assistance (ISA), advanced emergency braking and lane-keeping technology.
Under the system, technology must be fitted to all new cars sold in Europe. Cars receive information via GPS and a digital map, telling the vehicle what the speed limit is. This can be combined with a video camera capable of recognizing road signs.
How Intelligent Speed Assistance works:
However, this system has limitations and can be overridden when turned off.
