592 perish in 3 months; 3,343 others sustain injuries in road carnage

A total of 592 commuters perished while 3,343 were injured in road traffic crashes in the first quarter of 2018.

The dead are made of 439 males and 153 females.

11.7% increase in deaths

The number of people killed represents a 11.7% increase over the 530 commuters who died in the same period in 2017.

11.32% increase in injured persons

Similarly, 3,343 people were injured, representing a 11.32% increase over the 3,003 injured people in the first quarter of 2017.

Data compiled by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service showed that the total number of motor vehicles involved in accidents jumped from 4,498 in 2017 first quarter to 5,348 in the first quarter of this year.

This represents a 18.87% increase over the previous year’s figure.

198 Pedestrians killed

Out of 792 pedestrians knocked down, 198 were killed, with 584 injured during the period.

11.51% reduction in pedestrians killed

This is a reduction of 11.51% compared to the 229 pedestrians killed from 895 knockdowns during the first quarter of last year.

13.31% rise in motorcycle accidents

The number of motorcycles involved in road traffic crashes increased from 829 in the first quarter of 2017 to 956 during the same period in 2018, representing a 13.31% rise.

2,214 private vehicles

The total number of private vehicles involved in the accidents jumped to 2,214 in 2018 first quarter from the 1,846 recorded in the first three months of 2017.

2,175 commercial vehicles involved

The total number of commercial vehicles also increased from 1,823 in the first quarter of last year to 2,175 in the same period in 2017.