Two hundred and forty-two lives lost in Central Region due to road accidents

A total of 242 lives were lost in road accidents in the Central Region in 2020 as compared to 183 deaths in 2019.

In all, 978 road crashes involving 679 commercial vehicles, 526 private, and 396 motorcycles were recorded in 2020 as against 902 in 2019, representing an increase of 8.4 percent.

One hundred and twenty-two (122) people died in commercial vehicles, 48 in private vehicles, and 72 others on motorcycles.

Regional Head of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Linda Affotey-Annang, revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Cape Coast on January 8, 2020.

She said 1,511 persons were injured with some in critical conditions as compared to 1,554 persons injured in 2019.

Though pedestrian knock-down, which claimed 67 lives, reduced to 214 cases as against 242 in 2019, Ms. Affottey-Annag described it as ‘unacceptable’ saying, pedestrians are vulnerable road users who need to be protected.

She expressed worry about the increasing statistics of accidents involving motorcycles and called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to bring the situation under control.

Taking stock of the year 2020, Ms. Affottey-Annang, said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Authority in the Region undertook series of road safety educational campaigns concentrated at accident-prone areas and in the communities.

This, she said paid off with the reduction in the number of road crashes and casualties recorded especially in the last quarter of 2020.

Going forward, she said the NRSA would continue to build institutional collaborations with stakeholders such as the DVLA, Police MTTD, GPRTU among others to ensure compliance with road safety regulations.

Additionally, she noted that the authority intends to use road safety inspectors to ensure public compliance with best road safety practices while it continues with its advocacy role to foster behavioral change, especially among drivers.