Frequent road crashes worrying in spite of dwindling figures - Commissioner of Insurance

Prof. Dr. Justice Ofori, Ghana’s Commissioner of Insurance, has bemoaned the frequent accidents on our roads and called on motorists to be patient when driving.

He said that the recent spate of road crashes has become a major concern for many Ghanaians as the rate of deaths and injuries are still worrying in spite of the dwindling figures compared to last year’s during the same period.

He posited strongly that when drivers are more careful on the roads, there would be a more significant reduction in the number of accidents as “every life matters”.

“As stakeholders, the Police and the NIC can only work together to help minimize the canker and also to ensure that adequate compensations are paid to affected victims through valid insurance claims”, the Commissioner admonished.

The Insurance Regulator made these remarks when he presented hundreds of reflector vests, hand gloves and body bags to the Airport Divisional Command of the Ghana Police Service for use by the Airport Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) personnel headed by Superintendent Charles Kwakye.

The Commissioner of Insurance pledged the Commission’s continuous support to the Police since the relationship between the two institutions and by extension, the insurance industry is an age old one and can only get better with these collaborations.

Prof. Dr. Ofori used the opportunity to commend the leadership of the Ghana Police Service for ensuring that the Motor Insurance Database (MID) was successful.

Receiving the items on behalf of the Airport Divisional MTTD, Chief Superintendent John Atanga was impressed with the introduction of the MID: “The use of the MID for enforcement on our roads is also helping us, the Police in our road traffic investigations with the view to protecting innocent lives and property. Drivers and vehicle owners have become more cautious in the purchase of insurance policies and no longer susceptible to the modus operandi of fraudsters”, he disclosed.

He also commended the NIC for its commitment and resolve in continuously supporting the Police in the enforcement of the Road Traffic Act 1958.

This, the NIC is doing by way of nationwide Training of Trainers (ToT) seminars organized for frontline MTTD Officers as well as MTTD Commanders to make them more effective in the discharge of their duties.

It would be recalled that the NIC introduced the MID which is a repository of all validly insured vehicles in January 2020. Following this, about 900 GoTa phones have been donated to the Service to enable them check the validity of motor insurance policies and also to speed up investigations. These are also helping in the prompt issuance of Police Accident Reports to victims in pursuance of their insurance claims / compensations.

The donation to the Airport Divisional Police is only one of the many donations made by the Commission across the country.

Statistics from the Police MTTD indicates that the months of January and February 2023 have witnessed a reduction in the number of road crashes compared to the same period in 2022 and interventions such as supports from the NIC have contributed to these records.