The annual road report of 2020 by the Eastern Regional Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) indicates that a total of 425 people lost their lives through road accidents from January 2020 to December 2020.
The number shows an increase in road accident deaths in the Eastern Region, compared with the 289 deaths in 2019.
The report also indicates that 109 out of the 425 lost lives were pedestrians, compared to 101 pedestrian deaths in 2019. Within the same period, over 300 people sustained severe forms of injuries.
According to the Eastern Regional Commander of MTTD, Police Chief Superintendent Stephen Kofi Ahiatafu, the number of lives lost through road accidents keep increasing yearly, a situation he describes as ‘very worrying’.
Covid-19 effect
He attributed the increase in number of road accidents death to ‘break-in road checks’ due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He disclosed that police checks and reports in 2020 showed that most drivers had no valid driving licences, sounding a caution that the law would deal with such drivers who are caught.
He added that the MTTD would continue to build institutional collaborations with stakeholders like the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) to ensure safety on the roads.
The police chief superintendent advised pedestrians to be cautious on the road and pay attention to all road traffic regulations.
“We all have to be very careful when using the roads, both pedestrians and drivers. The road traffic regulations are not binding on only drivers but all road users including pedestrians who will be on their phone even when crossing the road. It is a very dangerous threat to their lives and others,” he added.
Western Region
In a related development, Western Region recorded a reduction in road accidents in 2020, contrary to findings by researchers that the carnage increases on roads every election year.
Statistics show that a total number of 1, 768 vehicles on the Region’s roads were involved in accidents last year, as against 1, 870 in 2019, a difference of 102. The number of persons killed also reduced by 28, from144 in 2019 to 115 last year.
Nana Akua Ansah, the Regional Road Safety boss, who disclosed this, attributed the situation to pragmatic measures put in place by stakeholders in the transport industry.
Causes
She mentioned human errors, faulty vehicles, bad weather conditions such as harmattan and failure by engineers to construct standardized roads as some of the causes of accidents identified.
She however gave the assurance that the identified causes were being worked on by the stakeholders to save lives and property on the roads. The Regional Road Safety boss said a number of those who sustained various degrees of injuries however shot up from 456 last two years to 510 last year.
Statistics
Throwing more light on the figures, she said 683 commercial vehicles were involved in accidents in 2020 as compared to 788 in 2019. Again, 638 private vehicles crushed last year with that of 2019 being 684. She expressed concerned that motor cyclists like Okada, tricycle and Mahama kamboo riders, did not follow the reduction trend.
According to her, 34 more cyclists were involved in accidents last year to push the total number of 397 cases recorded in 2019 to 431 in 2020. In spite of the unfortunate increment, in numbers, Madam Akuah Ansah expressed hope that all figures will drastically reduce this year.
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