We’re 'struggling' with a 'killing, disabling road traffic system – Accra Mayor

The mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, has said even though the Metropolitan Assembly is aiming at making the capital city “safe, smart, sustainable and a resilient modern” one, “regrettably, like other great cities of Africa, we are struggling with a road traffic system, which is killing and disabling many of our citizens”.

Speaking about the AMA’s “School Girl” mass media campaign against speeding on the roads, Mr. Adjei Sowah said: “Research shows that the causes of road crashes are more behavioral than accidental, hence, the need for concerted, multi-sectorial effort to combat the menace by changing the attitude of drivers and all road users through multiple mass media campaigns backed with enforcement”.

The AMA, in collaboration with the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety and the Partnership for Healthy Cities, said in its post-campaign evaluation report released on Monday, 20 July 2020 that it has reached nearly one million people with the November 2019 campaign.

“We are grateful to the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) for assisting the city of Accra to undertake our first mass media campaign on speeding”, the mayor said.

“School Girl” was the AMA’s first-ever mass media campaign to address road safety.

Speeding is a key cause of traffic crashes globally, contributing to the more than 1.35 million deaths on the world’s roads each year.

In Accra, 77% of drivers exceed posted speed limits, according to an observational study by Johns Hopkins University, according to the AMA.

The AMA’s road safety report for 2015 – 2018 recorded 1,812 road crashes for the year 2018 within the city of Accra.

To reduce speeding and prevent these deaths on the roads, the AMA partnered with global health organization Vital Strategies, an implementing partner of BIGRS and the Partnership for Healthy Cities, to develop the “School Girl” campaign.

“Every road traffic crash is preventable and we applaud the AMA for taking the steps needed to reduce the number of deaths on its roads,” said Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice-President for Policy, Advocacy, and Communication at Vital Strategies.

She added: “When running regularly and paired with enforcement, mass media campaigns like the ‘School Girl’ campaign are critical in changing attitudes and behavior of road users. We are pleased that the evaluation of Accra’s campaign showed positive changes in attitudes toward speeding. It is a tremendous step in the right direction, but more work is still needed to reduce speeding and save lives.”

The campaign featured a public service announcement (PSA) illustrating the deadly consequences of exceeding speed limits, portraying a young girl struck and killed instantly by a speeding driver while on her way to school.

“School Girl” aimed to deter speeding to reduce road traffic crashes and save lives.

The campaign ran on television, radio, social media, and was accompanied by billboards from November 12 to December 18, 2019.

Increased speeding enforcement using new speed detection devices run in parallel during this period.