Let’s make our roads safe

The issue of road crashes and the resultant loss of lives is a great concern to Ghanaians, especially when one looks at the statistics.

It is a fact that human lives lost through these crashes have serious implications for the country.

Among them are economic and human resource losses and a negative impact on families who may have lost their respective breadwinners, just to mention a few.

The Daily Graphic of Monday, August 28, 2023, carried a story about the loss of 99 lives through road crashes in the Central Region alone in the first half of the year.

The crashes injured 1,121 people and involved 943 vehicles, of which 396 are commercial, 352 private and 195 motorcycles.

The Central Regional Director of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Linda Afotey Annan, disclosed this at the Central Regional Coordination Council meeting last month.

It is safe to conclude that Central Region Road accident figures mirror the national road accident figures. 

Estimates are that about 10,000 fatal traffic accidents occur annually in the country, in which 1,600 people die and 15,000 are seriously injured.

The poor nature of the country’s roads, the carelessness of drivers and faulty vehicles are three of the leading causes of road accidents in Ghana.

The NRSA is authorised with policy implementation in road safety.

We commend them for their efforts.

However, the Daily Graphic notes with concern that despite their efforts, and those of their partners, road accidents seem to be increasing, judging by road crash figures from the Central Region.

Some are of the view that the figures of road crashes must ignite the passion of political, religious and social leaders to the extent that they become a campaign until our roads become safe and accident-free.

Others believe that road crashes must be given prominence similar to the one given the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was detected in the country initially.

Thus road traffic must be of such importance, meriting monthly presidential broadcasts that would focus on efforts by duty bearers, successes and challenges.

Before getting there, the Daily Graphic believes that the NRSA has what it takes to accomplish for Ghana roads to be safe.

Collaboration is key in efforts to ensure safe roads in the country.

Thus, the NRSA must collaborate with the Ministry of Information to get its sensitisation across the length and breadth of the country.

The media are also a key partner in the prevention of accidents, and the NRSA must engage them.

Also important is the messaging.

It is disheartening that currently, the site of the NRSA seems to be down.

In the past, the authority had an interactive website that published the number of accidents occurring nationwide, including fatalities, injuries and vehicles involved.

But the site is down.

Ensuring safe roads is all about having the relevant knowledge, and we cannot know without the appropriate information in documents or on websites.

The Daily Graphic urges the NRSA to, as a matter of urgency, ensure its website is up. 

We also urge the government to ensure that the Authority gets the needed resources for its work to ensure safe roads, as that endeavour cannot be postponed.

Indeed, safe roads must be the target of all, as roads are used by all; and that can be possible only through a well-resourced NRSA.

The Daily Graphic is convinced that road traffic injuries and deaths can be prevented.

There is the need to take concrete steps to address road safety issues in a holistic manner.

This, therefore, requires a more elaborate plan that will involve multiple sectors such as transport, health, education, and the police, as well as actions that address the safety of roads, vehicles and road users.

Effective interventions should, therefore, include designing safer infrastructure and incorporating road safety features into land use and transport planning, improving the safety features of vehicles, enhancing post-crash care for victims of road traffic crashes, setting and enforcing laws relating to key risks and raising public awareness.

Care must also be taken not to blame the carnage on our roads on superstitious beliefs or an act of God when clearly, these accidents are avoidable.

While reducing the carnage internally, we will at the end of the day be achieving and contributing to the United Nations General Assembly’s target of halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2030.