Ghana to Reduce Roads Accidents to 5% by 2003 - Committee

The National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) said on Wednesday that it has adopted strategic objectives with its social partners to achieve a five per cent reduction in road accident fatalities and serious injuries by the end of 2003 and 20 per cent by 2010.

Mr Noble John Appiah, Acting Executive Director of the NRSC, said this at a day's workshop for journalists in Accra.

The workshop was to develop a network with media personnel as a channel for educating the general public on road safety measures and also to highlight the NRSC's five-year road safety strategic plan.

Priority areas for the attainment of the objective include the development of a national strategy, strengthening of co-ordination among road safety agencies, sustained public education and training.

Other areas are information and publicity, development of a credible accident data and monitoring and analysis of roads.

Mr Appiah said statistics indicate that pedestrians account for 44 per cent of all fatalities, adding that 80 per cent of accidents occur on straight and flat roads while on the average six people are reported killed through road accidents daily.

He said 46 per cent of pedestrian fatalities in Ghana involve children below 16 years. The general fatality rate is 73 deaths per 10,000 vehicles, while 70 per cent of all accidents occur in the urban areas.

Mr. Appiah said over 80 per cent of the worst accidents occur on the Aflao-Accra-Elubo, Accra-Kumasi, and Kumasi-Mampong-Tamale roads.

The Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Central and Western Regions have 80 per cent of accidents in the country.