According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1.25 million people worldwide die yearly due to road accidents. In addition, road injury is the leading cause of death for people between 15 and 29 years whiles ninety percent (90%) of the global road deaths occur in low and middle-income countries (including Ghana), even though these countries have 54% of automobiles in the world.
Road Accidents: A Bane to Development
The National Road Safety Commission reported that from January to March 2022, over 200 people lost their lives to road accidents. A case in point is the tragic road accident involving some students of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). Reports indicated that nine students perished, but authorities confirmed that they were four. Another incident happened on March 13, involving a 40-year-old man who lost his life whiles on his way to his wedding reception.
Authorities in Ghana often blame drivers for the increasing flood of accidents on our roads. President Akuffo Addo recently made a statement that the committee set up by the government to investigate the cause of road accidents identified indiscipline on the side of drivers as the primary cause of road accidents. About a year ago, the Minister for Roads and Highways, Hon Kwasi Amoako-Attah, made a similar claim while addressing parliament.
Avoidable Causes
A deeper delve into the major causes of the increasing wave of road accidents in the country affirmed the claims by authorities. Among the plethora of causes are poor driving skills, over-speeding, driving while drunk, blatant disregard for road codes, and drivers not servicing their vehicles. Some road users have lamented over drivers’ indiscipline on our major highways as one young man said that almost every driver knows the risk involved in over-speeding but ignores the dangers that come with it anyway.
Some drivers also clarified that different factors contributed to road accidents, as they did not rest on a single entity. To them, the carelessness of pedestrians, heavy traffic, stress, and the incompetence of some personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) were also to blame. In a rather strange twist, one driver revealed that some passengers at times urged them to speed to reduce the arrival time of their inter-city journeys such as from Kumasi to Accra.
The Way Forward
Regardless of whatever justification that may arise, road accidents are claiming promising lives in this country and shattering hopes as well. Governments, law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders must work to provide good roads, sensitise drivers, and also to enact rigid and rigorous road traffic laws on drunk driving, over-speeding, and reckless driving in an attempt to curb this canker.