The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has expressed alarm at the number of fatal road accidents recorded during the week that witnessed 17 deaths and several cases of injuries.
Four separate road crashes were reported in the Eastern, Oti and the Greater Accra Regions on Saturday and Sunday.
According to the Authority, preliminary investigation has indicated that excessive speeding, wrongful overtaking, inattentiveness, disabled vehicles and fatigue are the critical contributory factors to the crashes.
The Authority noted, however, that the rise in the number of accidents recorded in the last few dates may not necessarily mean a rise in crashes or a crises situation.
It therefore called for calm and support from the public for the operationalization of its mandate and implementation of existing strategies to improve the road safety situation.
The Authority assured it is scaling up the ‘Stay Alive’ campaign for 2022 and the related media and outreach programmes while also deploying Road Safety Inspectors at major transport terminals to ensure compliance to safety directives on two drivers per long distance route and use of vehicle log books among others.
“To complement these efforts, the Authority appeals to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for an increased presence of the police on high-risk corridors to help enforce traffic regulations, including excessive speeds by drivers,” a statement from the NSRA said.
It assured that despite the frequent occurrence of road traffic crashes lately, its resultant injuries and deaths have declined by 3.7% and 9.2% respectively in the month of January and February, 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.
Background
On Saturday 12th March, 2022 at 3:00 pm at Jasikan-Bowri Kyirahene in the Oti Region, a Sprinter Bus with registration no. GN 4310-19 driving towards Jasikan decided to overtake a taxi cab and had a head-on collision with a Toyota Fish. Three people died and several sustained various degrees of injuries.
At Achimota Overhead on the N1 in the Greater Accra, a truck with registration no. GC 7102-21 moving from Lapaz towards Tema veered off its lane into the opposite lane, crashing into a Toyota saloon vehicle with registration no. GW 101521. There were no fatalies but two people got injured.
In the early hours of Sunday 13th March, 2022 at Oframase near Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, a Sprinter Bus with registration no. GC 6521-21 run into stationary truck with registration no. 9290 D 03 originating from Burkina Faso. Five people died and several got injured.
At Asuboi also in the Eastern Region on the same Sunday, a Hyundai Universe bus with registration no. AK 324-22 transporting students of University of Education (UEW) from Sunyani towards Accra crashed into a 40-footer container loaded with wood that had fallen partially on the road after a previous accident. Nine deaths were recorded.