Road crashes: 2,284 fatalities recorded in 2019 – MTTD

Road crashes claimed 2,284 lives in 2019, according to provisional data compiled by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD).

This marked a significant increase from 2018 where 2,020 persons died on Ghana’s roads.

This would be the highest fatality figure in the last decade if validated by the National Road Safety Commission.

The highest so far was in 2012 where 2,240 people died in road crashes.

Ghana’s least fatal year for road crashes in the last decade was 2015 where 1,802 people died.

The Greater Accra Region had the most road fatalities in 2019 with 449 recorded followed by the Ashanti Region with 448 deaths and the Eastern Region with 349 deaths.

The Upper West Region featured the least deaths with 49 recorded cases.

The provisional data did not streamline data to cover the newly created regions which were carved out from existing ones.

Most of the fatalities came in crashes involving commercial vehicles where 925 fatalities were recorded as well as 7,621 injuries.

Crashes involving private cars led to the deaths of 627 people and 3,302 injuries.

Pedestrian knockdowns totalled 2,983 with 740 of the incidents resulting in deaths.

There were also 4,643 motor or cycle crashes which take into account bicycles, hand carts, tricycles and motorcycles. The crashes saw 723 deaths and 3,474 injuries.

In all, there were 13,877 crashes recorded which involved 22,789 vehicles.

The regional breakdown of crashes saw the Greater Accra with 5,483; Ashanti with 3,213; Eastern with 1,212; Western with 1,143; Central with 902, Brong Ahafo with 652, Volta with 593, Northern with 270, Upper East with 254, and Upper West with 155.

The National Road Safety Commission has noted that Ghana loses over $230 million annually due to road crashes.

Within the last 28 years, over 46,000 Ghanaians have been killed in road accidents nationwide.

According to Road Safety Commission investigations, inattention and over-speeding are currently the leading causes of road crashes in Ghana.

This is followed by genuine accidents that lead to crashes.

In 2018, inattention by drivers led to 41.8 percent of deaths whilst over speeding led to 26.8 percent of deaths recorded.

Credit: Citinewsroom.com