Travelling Roads To Celebrate Christmas On Modern Ghana

Christmas is coming people will be travel to their families to celebrate the birth of Christ  but the road they pass to their homes town and villages are  very bad  roads.

About 30 people are feared dead in a motor accident at Savelugu in the Northern Region Saturday morning.

The accident occurred when a Benz bus travelling from Kumasi to Bolgatanga collided with a Tamale-bound Metro-Mass Transit bus.

An eye witness told Joy News that aside the dead, they are experiencing difficulties in carrying the injured to the hospital.

Inspector Alex Oppong of the Northern Regional Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), who visited the scene, narrated to Joy News that the Metro-Mass Transit bus was travelling from Bolgatanga to Tamale. 

He said, at Pong-Tamale, near Savelugu, the Benz bus which was travelling from Kumasi to Bolgatanga in an attempt to over-take a car run into the lane of the Metro-Mass bus causing a head-on collision between the two buses. Both drivers, together with all the passengers on Benz bus, according to Inspector Oppong died instantly.

The number of motor vehicles in Ghana is increasing rapidly and, coupled with population growth, is contributing to a rise in the number of road traffic injuries and fatalities. Road safety has become a major national issue receiving front-page coverage in the press and National TV news on a regular basis. Fortunately, the government and donor community have reacted quickly and increased funding to the NRSC, enabling the NRSC to expand and implement new targeted road safety initiatives. The Danish International Development Assistance, Danida, has been a primary supporter of government road safety activities in Ghana.

Road crashes kill an average of four persons daily in Ghana. In 2005, the latest year for which statistics are available, the number of road crashes increased by 16% relative to 2004. The regions Ashanti, Eastern, Gt. Accra, Central and Brong Ahafo Regions account for more than 70% of the total number of crash fatalities. Some 70% of crashes occur on flat and straight roads. Speeding is a major cause of crashes, accounting for over 50% of reported crashes. Buses and mini-buses cause 35% of fatal crashes while cars are responsible for 32%.

Road users between 16-45 years are the most vulnerable group and account for 58% of total road crash fatalities from 2002-2005. 70% of persons killed in road crashes are males. The age groups from 0-5, 46-65 and over 65 years also accounted for a 20.8%, 16.7% and 4.6% respectively of the total fatalities during the same period.

Pedestrians continue to be the most vulnerable road user group, accounting for more than 40% of the annual road crash fatalities. 21% of pedestrians killed annually are children below the age of 16 years of age. This was followed by occupants of buses/Mini buses, cars and HGV also recording 23%, 12% and 10% respectively.

Although fatality numbers are growing, crash risk has remained stable over the past six years. The statistics should be viewed with caution as the quality of the national data is affected by under-reporting (including both non-reporting, because not all crashes are reported, and under-recording arising from incomplete retrieval of reported crashes from police files). Whereas the actual degree of under-reporting is not currently known, the level of under-recording of the data has been reviewed and generally improved over the years.

Data management systems are improving as IT systems become more widely available and this will have an impact on the crash reduction programme from better informed safety programmes.

Road safety coordination and stakeholders

In the past, road safety activities were carried out by individual departments within the Ministry of Roads and Transport: Ghana Highways Authority, Department of Urban Roads, Department of Feeder Roads, Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority, together with the National Road Safety Committee. In 2000, the Committee became a Commission by act of Parliament and the Commission coordinate safety activities within Ghana.

The Government of Ghana, acting through the Ministry of Transport and Communications, established the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to develop, promote and coordinate the National Road Safety Strategy.

The National Road Safety Strategy provided the NRSC with guidelines for its work in the 5-year period 2001-05.The purpose of the strategy was to break the upward trend in crashes, injuries and fatalities and create a basis for concrete, sustainable crash reduction by 2010. The overall target was a 5% reduction in road fatalities from 1998 as the base year to 2005 and a further 15% reduction before the end of 2010. A new 5-year strategy is currently being prepared.

The NRSC has identified seven major public road safety stakeholders who will be the mainstays for the implementation of the strategy. These are:

The National Road Safety Commission and its Secretariat (NRSC);

 The Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI);

 The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA);

 The Motor Transport and Traffic Unit - the traffic police (MTTU);

 The Ghana Highways Authority (GHA);

 The Department of Urban Roads (DUR);