Children in road accidents; Are we safe?
Have you ever had a car accident? How do you feel today? Do you live with any scar on your body or has it led to you losing the worth of your life?
Advertisement
Every week or so, the media report on road accidents which, painfully, have caused the death of many or left them with the loss of certain parts of their bodies.
Nana Kwesi, now 55 years, lost the use of his legs when he was only 11 years old. He was crossing the road after school when he was knocked down by a bus.
He says the fate he suffered so many years ago has not changed as many children continue to die or are robbed of living life to the full as a result of the lack of a consistent education of children, especially schoolchildren who have to use the road regularly as they go to and from school.
The Assistant Planning Officer in charge of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Abraham Zaato, has disclosed that areas where children are normally involved in accidents are schools close to busy roads and highways.
Road fatalities involving children
Figures from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) show that as at 2012, 23 per cent of pedestrian deaths involved children below 16 years.
In 2012, for instance, the NRSC recorded the death of 170 children aged between six and 15, through road accidents. In that same year, children aged between 16 and 25 years were involved in 335 such accidents.
Road fatalities involving children between six and 15 years in 2011 were 212, whereas 365 children aged between 16 and 25 years died.
Considering the nature of most road accidents, children who survive often suffer physically and psychologically. Physically, they suffer broken bones (fractures), deep cuts, dislocations and severe burns on the skin. Even more serious is the psychological trauma a number of such children go through. They end up living in fear of freely moving about including timidity. The social harm caused some children is the problem where they are no longer able to play certain games as a result of road accidents and, therefore, lose their childhood completely.
Richmond Tawiah, now 15 years, a victim of a road accident at Adabraka, was playing football with his friends in his neighbourhood when he was knocked down by a motor bike as he raced after the ball which had been kicked onto the road.
Richmond was knocked so hard that he was thrown straight under a Benz car that was parked at the opposite side of the road. He ended up at the hospital with a broken left arm and an injured right leg. “For almost a month, I had to be assisted to use the toilet and the bathroom. I could not use my hand and for almost three years, I could not play football for fear of getting injured,” Richmond disclosed to the Junior Graphic.
Deborah Semanhyia was 11 years when she was also involved in an accident. She said the accident made her miss school for sometime and, therefore, had to work hard to catch up.
As if that was not enough, she was not allowed to write the class tests that were conducted in her absence even though her teacher was aware of what had happened to her. “As a result, I lost 30 per cent of the marks in the subjects I couldn’t write in the tests,” she said.
In an interview with a teacher at the St Joseph’s R/C Basic School, Mr Michael Nyame, he said road accidents involving children often affected teaching and learning.
He explained that because pupils/students involved in accidents missed school for weeks or more on their return, some teachers were compelled to teach all that they had already taught to prevent such children from lagging behind in their studies.
Furthermore, Mr Nyame said, as a teacher, he had realised that pupils/students who were victims of road accidents were easily frightened, timid and psychologically imbalanced during class lessons. “Sometimes, when you are teaching and such students hear the tooting of car horns, they get frightened because I think it reminds them of the accident they were involved in,” he added.
Causes of road accidents
The NRSC has identified several reasons why children are often victims of vehicular and motor accidents.
According to Mr Zaato of the NRSC, children often saw things differently from adults. “As a result, they perceive cars to be faraway from them even though in reality, the cars are closer. They, therefore, cross the road only to be hit in the process”.
He also noted that many children did not use the zebra crossing provided on roads and advised them to ensure that all vehicles stopped before they began to cross the road.
Advice on using motorbikes
For those children who ride ‘okada’ (motor transportation), Mr Zaato said it was illegal in the country to operate okada. He also warned that it was dangerous for adults to put children on motorbikes when their feet could not touch the pedal.
Advertisement
He advised that adults should ensure that children who were eligible to sit on motorbikes wore helmets. He also urged children who love riding bicycles to put on helmets and reflective vests or bright clothes so they can be easily seen by other road users, especially in the night.
Road safety tips
Below are some road safety tips from the NRSC:
• Young children should always go out onto the street with an adult. Before crossing a street or road, children should hold the hand of the adult.
• When you are led by an adult to walk along the road, walk on the side of the adult that is away from the road.
Advertisement
• The safest places to cross the road are at the pedestrian/zebra crossing, footbridge/overpass, traffic light, pelican light, pedestrian underpass and locations where police or traffic wardens control traffic.
To be continued