11,035 accidents recorded so far – Transport Ministry

Statistics available to the Ministry of Transport indicates that as at October this year, a total of 11,035 cases of road traffic crashes had been reported involving 16,749 vehicles, 9,648 injuries and 1,606 deaths.

The situation represents a 3.1per cent and 4.1per cent increase in the number of resultant vehicles involved in accidents and their deaths respectively over the same period last year.


This was said by Mrs Joyce Moctar Bawa, Deputy Minister of Transport during a road safety walk and the launch of Christmas sensitization campaign organized by the Ministry on Saturday.


She said road crashes situation in Ghana gets worse usually during the months of November and December and especially during the festive season of Christmas and New Year.


She noted that this year, the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) had been championing responsibility on the part passengers and pedestrians since they were in a better position to monitor drivers prior to departure and when the vehicle was in a motion.


“As we expect responsibility from transport operators, passengers have to be observant to speak up against all manner of risky behaviours like speeding, driving tired, wrongful overtaking among other,” she added.


She urged drivers and motorists to be cautious this festive season and obey traffic rules, wear crash helmet and also avoid behaviours that could endanger their lives and that of other road users.

She urged the NRSC to continue to increase public awareness of road safety hazards and their preventive measures and also collaborate with DVLA Police MTTD to strengthen their existing task force arrangement to enforce road traffic regulations on our roads and lorry stations.


Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, Executive Director, NRSC, appealed to passengers to always endeavour to board vehicles from lorry stations and not by the road side so that they can report when a driver misbehaves or when they forget their items on the vehicles.


“I will entreat all passengers to endeavour to board vehicles from lorry stations and desist from taking lorries from the road side so that they can report when their things get missing”, she said.


Mr Victor Owusu, Secretary, Achimota Bus Terminal Drivers Association, appealed to Government to create another route at the terminal for the pupils of Achimota School as some of them encounter danger from vehicles in their quest to come to the terminal using the main entrance.


“I will appeal to Government to make another entrance to the terminal which will be used by only the school pupils since one of them was recently knocked down by a car when trying to come to the station using the main entrance,” he said.