[ 2011-04-20 ]

1,800 die in road accidents annually
It is estimated that 11,400 road traffic accidents
are recorded annually with 1,800 fatalities and
14,000 injuries nationwide.

This, according to the National Road Safety
Commission (NRSC), is highly unacceptable and
called for a pragmatic step, to halt the spate.

Based on this, the NRSC Tuesday, held a final
stakeholders forum in Accra to come up with the
"Development of 2011 to 2020 National Road Safety
Strategy (NRSS III)" to help stabilise fatalities
by 2015.

Speaking on the topic, a Decade of Action for Road
Safety: the Director of Research, Monitoring and
Evaluation, Mr. David Osafo Adonteng, said though
the motorisation into the country and the
importation of vehicles keep increasing at a rate
of 10 per cent, the commission was determined to
reduce fatalities.

He said motorisation in Ghana had doubled in the
last decade from 567,780 in 2001 to close to 1.2
million in 2010.

For instance, he indicated that in 1991, 70
fatalities were recorded as against 31in 2001and
21 in 2009 respectively, adding that the target
for 2015, is to record at least a single digit
fatality.

Mr. Adonteng said though the country records high
fatalities, the record was relatively low compared
to African countries like Ethiopia, Togo,
Tanzania, Niger, saying that Ghana lies at the 13
position and not third as people claim.

He stated that in the quest to achieve the target
in four years requires total commitment from all
stakeholders including strong political will and
commitment.

"It also calls for a vigorous hunt for accelerated
investment of sufficient funds for sustainable
road safety programmes and activities consistent
with the global best practices that are five per
cent of annual revenue from the road fund, five
per cent from motor insurance premium, five per
cent from vehicle registration and inspection," he
said.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of
Transport, Alhaji Collins Dauda, said Road Traffic
Injuries (RTI) is the leading cause of death,
injuries and disability killing about 1.3 million
people globally.

He said it had also been revealed that by the year
2020, road traffic injuries could be the third
leading cause of deaths globally with 90 per cent
of such injuries occurring in developing countries
including Ghana, if nothing was done on the local
front.

Mr. Dauda said road traffic fatalities placed a
severe financial stress and negative
socio-economic impact on families, where some of
the victims are breadwinners.

The Executive Director of the NRSC, Noble Appiah,
said road safety is a shared responsibility which
calls for total support to reduce the carnage.

He said road accident is no "respecter of persons,
citing the accident of ex-President J. A. Kufuor,
the Majority Leader of Parliament, Mr. Cletus
Avoka, and the Deputy Minister of Education, Mr.
Mahama Ayariga, as examples.

He urged the officials to come on board to join
the campaign on road safety in the country to help
save lives.

The Chief Executive of Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Authority, Mr. Justice Amegashie, called
on car owners to thoroughly inspect the driving
license of drivers they employ before allowing
them to drive.

He said some of the drivers did not have licenses
that match the type of vehicles they drive,
describing the practice as dangerous and also
called for regular maintenance of vehicles.

Source - Ghanaian Times

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