The Cape Coast-Accra Highway accounted for 75 percent of the total 805 accident cases recorded in the Central Region as at November 2016, a situation the Regional Road Safety Commission calls problematic.
The Regional Director, Mr Stephen Anokye although acknowledged that the volume of vehicular traffic on the Cape Coast-Accra Highway is more than any other road in the region, he appealed to drivers who ply the road to exercise extra caution especially during the yuletide.
A total of 113 lives were lost out of the 805 accidents recorded this year in the region. The figure is however lower than what was recorded in November 2015: 128 people died in the 885 accidents last year.
The Commission gives credit to intensive road safety education conducted this year for the reduction in the accident rate.
Mr. Anokye noted that the accident rate in the region would be reduced drastically if drivers are disciplined and adhered to traffic rules.
“Both commercial and private drivers abuse the stipulated 90k/hr speed limit on the highway. I can confidently say about 75 percent of accident cases are recorded on the Cape Coast – Accra Highway,” he remarked.
The Central Region is second to the Greater Accra Region in pedestrian deaths who are mostly school children, he observed.
Although the cooperation between Commission and driver unions in the region is yielding dividends, the manager of Cape Coast-Accra Station No. 1 at Tantre Lorry Station, Francis Amisa wants the Commission to do more to reduce accidents on the road.
“Most of the commercial vehicles that cause accidents on the road do not belong to driver unions so we want the commission to involve us on the road to educate such fellows.”
Some passengers who spoke to 3news.com condemned speeding and drink driving, and charged drivers to consider and value human lives more than high sales.
Meanwhile, over 20 lives have been lost in the first half of December.
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