Crash deaths rise to 1,140 in 5 months

• Posted on June 20, 2022
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

-It represents 8.8% decline from 1,250 killed last year

Provisional data compiled by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) shows that the number of commuters killed in road traffic crashes recorded in the first five months of 2022 declined to 8.8% compared to the same period of 2021.

It dropped from 1,250 fatalities between January and May last year to 1,140 during the same period this year.

905 males killed
The data also shows that 905 males made up of 101 below the ages of 18 and 804 who are 18 and above were killed.

235 females killed
Similarly, 235 females comprising 51 who are 18 and below, as well as 184 aged 18 and above, also died from road crashes.

The adult age group (above 18 years) was the most represented in the fatality statistics, constituting 87% of fatalities as compared to 13% for children.

Putting the riskiest age group and sex together, the picture implies that more adult males are dying than their female counterparts.

This further points to the understanding that male casualties are more likely to have fatal outcomes than female casualties.

Motorcycles kill 235  
Motorcycles killed the highest number of commuters, totalling 467, representing 41%.

Commercial vehicles kill 404
It is followed by commercial vehicles which killed 404 commuters, representing 35%.

Private vehicles kill 209   
Also, private vehicles claimed the lives of 209, representing 22%.

320 pedestrians killed
Out of the 1,250 fatalities, 320 representing 28% resulted from pedestrian knockdowns.

Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern lead
The regional distribution of crashes and fatalities indicate that regions such as Greater Accra Ashanti and Eastern contributed about 76.32 % of crashes and 55.72% of fatalities in January to May 2022 respectively.

This trend has not changed from the past trend in which these three regions together constitute the major/highest contributors of crashes and fatalities in Ghana.

 1,155 pedestrian knockdowns
In respect of pedestrians knockdown, it declined to 1,155 this year compared to 1,215 last year, representing 5.94% reduction.

6,620 injured
Similarly, the number of persons injured also recorded 4.98% drop from 6,967 last year to 6,620 during the same period this year.

Commercial vehicles top injuries
The breakdown of injuries is as follows: Commercial vehicles -3,193 representing 48%, motorcycles -1,848 representing 28% and private vehicles -1,579 representing 24%.

10,858 vehicles involved in crashes
In the same vein, vehicles involved in roach crashes also reduced by 7.01% from 11,676 last year to 10,858 this year.

Private vehicles top crashes
The breakdown by vehicle type includes private – 4,873 representing 45%, commercial -3,669 representing 34% and motorcycles -2,316 representing 21%.


For reported cases, the figure also decreased by 4.67% from 6,472 last year to 6,789 this year.

The proportions of vehicles involved in crashes for commercial vehicles and motorcycles categories decreased by (11.53%) and (13.10%) respectively, and that of private vehicles increased by 0.19% as compared to the same period last year.

Comparing the period of January to May 2022 to the same period last year, there have been decreases in the number of cases reported (4.67%), vehicles involved (7.01%), pedestrians knocked down (4.94%), number of persons killed (-8.80%) and persons injured (4.98%).

Analysis on categories of vehicles involved in crashes shows that motorcycles (two/three wheelers) constituted the least (21.33%) of all vehicles involved.

This notwithstanding, the share of motorbike/motorcycle crashes is alarming, taking into consideration the population of motorcycles (two/three wheelers) of the total vehicle population.

There was a general reduction of 13.10% in crash involvement for all types of motorcycles. However, only motorbikes (only two wheelers) constituted 74.57% of crashes involving all categories of motorcycles whilst tricycles contributed 20.29%.

As compared to the same period in 2021, the share of motorbike (two wheelers) involvement in crashes decreased by 15.59%.

In the first five months of 2022, Greater Accra and Ashanti regions recorded reductions in overall CIDs, whereas Eastern Region had increases of 6.30%, 12.56% and 0.68% in crashes, injuries and deaths respectively.

These three regions, collectively known as ‘The Big Three’ (Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern) recorded 4,940 crashes, 4,596 injuries and 635 deaths in January to May 2022, slightly declining by 1.20%, 2.19% and 12.17% in crashes, injuries and deaths respectively compared to the same period of 2021.

The remaining 13 regions collectively had 1,532 crashes, 2,024 injuries and 505 deaths, also recording decreases in all CIDs in the first five months of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021, with percentage decreases by 14.36%, 10.76% and 4.17% in crashes, injuries and deaths respectively.

Moreover, Western North Region had the highest reduction margin (percentage) of reduction by 74.07% and the Western had the highest increasing percentage margin by 132.82% in crashes.

Bono Region also had the highest reduction margin (percentage) by -39.20% and North East Region had the highest increasing margin (percentage) by 511.11% in injuries.

And similarly for deaths recorded in the same period, Savannah had the highest margin reduction (64.41%) and North East Region had 280% margin percentage increase when compared to the same period in 2021.

By Elvis DARKO, Accra