2,198 killed in road accidents in 2016

• Posted on January 19, 2017
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

PROVISIONAL road traffic crashes data has revealed that 2,198 people were killed in 2016 in road accidents.

This means that, on the average, nearly 183 people were killed every month in 2016.

A total of 11,293 people sustained various degrees of injury in 12,510 reported accident cases involving 19,495 vehicles.

Compared to 2015, deaths have gone up by 34.5% while injuries also shot up by 22.9%.

Reported cases witnessed 15.5% while number of vehicles involved also jumped by 15% over the 2015 figures.

 A total of 8,555 private vehicles, 8,113 commercial vehicles and 2,827 motorcycles were involved in crashes in 2016 representing 43.9%, 41.6% and 14.5% respectively.

The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) said while private and commercial vehicles involved in road crashes increased by 14% and 13.3% respectively over the 2015 figures, the figure for motorcycles dropped by 23.5% in 2016.

Child fatalities -401

The Commission explained that the number of children killed jumped from 286 in 2015 to 401 in 2016 representing 40.2% while pedestrian knock downs increased from 2,121 in 2015 to 2,961 in 2016, an increase of 39.6%.

Gender distribution

The gender distribution of deaths indicates that males constitute 66.6% while 15.2% were females.

Regional breakdown

Fatalities for the top four regions are Greater – 493, Eastern -347, Ashanti – 310 and Brong Ahafo – 286.

The four regions account for 65.3% of total deaths recorded in 2016.

The Upper West Region recorded the lowest fatalities followed by Upper East and Central regions with 54, 84 and 138 deaths respectively.

Commenting on the situation, Executive Director of the Commission said, “last year was, particularly, challenging coming from the consistent decline in the major indicators over the last three years.

“It is early to establish the reasons except to emphasize that, high travel speeds on the part of drivers and general indiscipline among pedestrians and motor riders, among others, remain a major concern for road safety actors in Ghana.

“This year, we expect to introduce a number of measures, including speed cameras, spot fines and vehicle towing project backed by comprehensive sensitisation programmes to help manage the challenges”.

She stated that the commission remains committed to the National Road Safety Strategy III, between 2011 and 2020, and would intensify collaboration with other stakeholders to help improve road safety for all.

By Elvis DARKO, Accra