About 4,757 road crashes were recorded in the Greater Accra metropolis from 2016 to 2018, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) road safety report has revealed.
Out of the number, 1,431 sustained varying degrees of injuries with 327 deaths recorded during the same period most of them on the major highways.
For Instance, in 2018 there were 103 crashes and 24 deaths on the major highways in the metropolis with half of the crashes and death recorded on the NI.
These statistics were contained in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) 2016-2018 road safety report launched in Accra yesterday by Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, Chief Executive of the AMA.
It was collaboration between the Ghana Police Service, Bloomberg Philanthropies, National Road Safety Authority and Vital Strategies to give in-depth report on road crashes in the metropolis.
About 151 of these crashes were associated with suspected alcohol use, in which the month of August had the highest number of road injuries while March recorded the highest number of deaths.
Presenting the report, Surveillance Coordinator of AMA, Dr Raphael Baffour Awuah said, vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists made up 84 per cent of road death in 2018.
He said, between 2016 and 2018, males accounted for more than 75 per cent of all road deaths and serious injuries, with highest proportion of deaths and serious injuries being the age of 20 to 39 years.
Dr Awuah said, a higher proportion of deaths were recorded between 6p.m. and 8p.m. during the review period, stressing that fatal crashes occurred frequently between Fridays and Sundays.
“The number of deaths involving public commercial vehicles increased by 88 percent whilst about half of all crashes and deaths on major national highways in the Accra Metropolitan area occurred on the N1 in 2018,” he said.
He added that, seatbelt use had been significantly higher among drivers compared to passengers and that seatbelt use among drivers was 81 per cent compared to 14 per cent among passengers.
According to him, the rate of motorcycle riders correctly wearing helmets, had been fluctuating throughout the observation period.
“In the latest round, 75 per cent of motorcycle drivers were observed to be correctly wearing helmets compared to 45 per cent among motorcycle passengers,” Dr Awuah said.
The Mayor, Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah noted that the AMA would beef up the number of city guards to address indiscipline on our roads.
BY BERNARD BENGHAN
