The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has said, the number of road traffic fatalities increased by 13% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year, despite an overall decrease in road crashes, vehicles involved, and injuries.
In a press release on July 23, 2024, the Authority noted that from January to June 2024, a total of 1,237 people lost their lives in 6,653 road traffic crashes, which involved 11,283 vehicles. While the number of cases reported, vehicles involved, persons injured, and pedestrian knockdowns decreased, the number of fatalities rose.
A breakdown of vehicles involved in crashes from January to June 2024 shows that private vehicles: 43%, commercial vehicles: 34% and motorcycles: 23%
The Head of Public Relations at NRSA, Pearl Adosu, attributed the increase in fatalities to wrongful overtaking and speeding.
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“The contributory factor might be as a result of head-on collisions and head-on collisions are as a result of wrongful overtaking and over speeding. Research has shown that about 90% of our drivers plying our roads in the country do not adhere to speed limits in the country and when the speed limit is high the severity of the crash is high,” Adosu said.
Road traffic crashes in the first half of 2024 followed a concerning trend, with March recording the highest number of crashes (1,145) and fatalities (240). In contrast, June saw the lowest number of crashes (1,044).
Meanwhile, pedestrian knockdowns decreased by 1.9% compared to the same period in 2023, with 1,219 pedestrians knocked down from January to June 2024, down from 1,212 in 2023.
She added that their collaboration with the Ghana Police Service and motor rider associations haVE helped to address the high crash and fatality rates among riders.
“Because the riders were not being properly regulated and there was no training or no proper enforcement, we saw hikes in the crashes and the fatalities rate but when we looked at the trend, we immediately collaborated with Ghana Police Service, and we established a relationship with the motor riders and so they have formed associations,” she said. “We go to them, we do town hall meetings for them, we call facilitators to come and talk to them, sensitize them, educate them on the impact of their reckless riding and we have seen that it has helped mostly in the urban cities,” she added.
Also, road crash data from January to June 2024 reveals a concerning trend in the Bono Region, which saw a 77.8% increase in fatalities compared to the same period in 2023, making it the region with the highest percentage increase in deaths.
In contrast, the Oti Region recorded a significant improvement, with a 50% decrease in the number of crashes, marking the highest percentage decrease among all regions.
Despite research indicating that road crashes tend to surge during election years, Adosu further assured that measures have been implemented to counteract this trend.
“We have gone into discourse with the various political parties, we have engaged them, we have also been able to review the road safety political code of 2008 and so they are all aware of what they should do during the campaign,” she said.
