132 perish in road accidents in Ashanti

Kumasi, August 6, GNA - A total of 132 people perished in 803 road traffic accidents in the Ashanti Region during the first half of the year.

Mr. Kofi Opoku-Manu, the Regional Minister, said these involved 1,158 vehicles.


Addressing a mid-year review conference of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in Kumasi, he said the spate of accidents gave cause for worry, especially when majority of the cases are attributable to human error.


Most of the fatal car crashes are the direct result of over speeding and reckless driving, he noted, adding, with a bit of caution on the part of drivers, the situation could have been brought under control.


Mr. Opoku-Manu said drivers need to have real concern not only for their own safety but also for other road users.


He warned that the accident situation could get worse if "we do not stand up to the challenge and continuously implore and educate all road users to be cautious and observe road safety guidelines."


"Sustainable education on road safety is the only means by which we can expect any dramatic change in attitude and behaviour of road users and promote responsible driving."

Mrs. Dzifa Attivor, Deputy Minister for Transport, spoke of plans to step up road safety education in the districts.


According to her, the structures of the NRSC would be strengthened to help bring sanity on the roads and reduce the carnage.


Mr. Noble J. Appiah, Executive Director of the NRSC, said the goal of the review was to identify gaps and renew the sense of urgency to deal with road safety challenges.


"We do not have to relent in our efforts. We still have a long way to go to achieving our strategic corporate objectives, which is a single digit fatality by the year 2015."


Statistics at the Commission show that as at the close of June, 870 lives had been lost through road accidents nationwide.