A total of 44 people died during Ghana’s electioneering period between 7 and 10 December, 2016. 100 accident cases were reported within the period with about 157 vehicles involved.
The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) at a media briefing on Monday said, 2016 saw increased incidents of motor accident compared to figures in 2015.
According to the Executive Director of the Commission, May Obiri Yeboah, about 2,000 motor accidents were recorded between January and November with about 1,400 people losing their lives.
“In 2015 there were 1,448 road accidents in the country. In 2016 there were 1,990 accidents and about 1,200 injured persons…. on all the indicators the number of cases have been on ascendancy this year.”
May Obiri Yeboah cautioned Ghanaians to ensure an accident-free festive season. “The year 2016 has been very challenging for road safety targets; deaths and injuries… the target set for 2016 were 1,400 and 4,140 for persons killed and injured respectively.
Unfortunately, by the end of November this year, a total of 11,378 accidents had been recorded throughout the country involving 17,746 vehicles.
The total number of casualties stood at 12,144 and this is made up of 1,990 death and 10,154 injuries.” “This situation exceeds the projected number of deaths by 38.26%.” She said the statistics reveal the need to for more work to be done to ensure an accident-free Christmas. She called on drivers to be mindful of their conduct on the road to avoid endangering their lives and that of other road-users.
‘Post-election celebrations’
She said the Commission had noted with concern how some celebrants of the just ended general elections carried out their celebrations. Some celebrants were last week involved in an accident that left two people dead. According to the Commission, such incident could be avoided if road safety regulations are strictly observed.
Ing. May Obiri Yeboah further cautioned commercial motor riders against riding without protective helmets and speeding through traffic.
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