More men dying in road accidents-National Road Safety

Mr. Kwasi Tsibu Yirenkyi, the Eastern Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), said on Tuesday that men formed 80% of road crash deaths in the country.

He said the situation was alarming as many families had lost their bread winners and attributed the high spate of fatalities on the roads to poor weather conditions, bad roads, lack of proper maintenance of vehicles, lack of poor judgment on the part of divers and human error.

He appealed to stakeholders to step up their campaigns to bring the situation under control.

Mr. Yirenkyi said this at a road safety forum for Ascension Congregation Men’s Fellowship of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in Koforidua.

He said the Eastern Region recorded the third highest number of road crashes after Ashanti and Greater Accra regions.

Mr. Yirenkyi said the Eastern Region recorded 705 road crash cases within the first and second quarters of the year with 169 people killed.

He said during a road safety audit on the Koforidua/Mamfe and Oyoko/Bunso stretches, overgrown tree branches and weeds and absence of road signs were identified as some of the causes of frequent road crashes in those areas. Six districts identified to have the highest potential for road crashes are Kwahu West, East Akyem, Suhum, Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Birim Central, Yilo Krobo and Akuapem North.

The Suhum/ Nsawam stretch of the Accra/Kumasi highway is another emerging accident-prone area.

Mr. Yirenkyi said more efforts were being put in place to ensure that the last two quarters achieved some remarkable improvements.

He said his outfit had made some interventions to stem the upsurge of the high incidence of reported cases of crashes and fatalities in the third and fourth quarters.

Mr. Yirenkyi mentioned some of the measures as the implementation and management of route action plans such as police presence, managing road user behavior and treatment of identified hazard on roads.

He said most drivers did not check on their vehicles and urged them to check at least the brakes and tail lights before embarking on any journey.

Mr. Yirenkyi said the maximum life span of brake fluid should not be more than one month and if drivers adhered to all these instructions, road crashes would be reduced to the barest minimum.

He advised drivers to concentrate while driving and to guard against the use of mobile phones.**