Wa, Feb. 02, GNA – The Upper West Regional office of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has achieved a reduction in recorded cases of road crashes, injuries, and deaths (CIDs) from 171 reported cases in 2021 to 95 reported cases in 2022 representing 44.4 per cent reduction.
Available statistics from the NRSA indicated that 48 deaths and 269 injuries were recorded in 2021 as against 40 deaths and 153 injuries recorded in 2022 representing 16.7 per cent and 43.1 per cent reductions in 2022,
Mr Obed Gyammera Antwi, an Assistant Planning Manager of the Upper West Regional NRSA, revealed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at the sidelines of a stakeholder meeting in Wa.
Mr Michael Oppong Kyekyeku, an Assistant Planning Manager of the Upper West Regional NRSA in his presentation said interventions put in place by his outfit in collaboration with other stakeholder institutions also contributed to the huge success chalked .
He mentioned some of the activities embarked to include engagements with transport operators, cando (tricycle) riders, the leadership of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, and motor dealers, with more emphasis on the ‘Stay Alive’ educational activities. among others.
Other contributing factors he identified were operation Police Action against Rider Indiscipline (operation ‘PARI’); training for cando riders; and enforcement of Road Traffic Regulations.
Mr Kyekyeku explained that: “disregard for traffic signals and road signs, overloading, abuse of road medians, deplorable nature of some sections of the roads, use of worn-out tyres, and broken-down vehicles on the roads” were some factors impeding their efforts in curbing road accidents in the region.
He said the authority would intensify its campaign against road crashes despite the challenges it faced to reduce the incidents of road accidents in the region to the barest minimum.
Mr Kwame Owusu Abrokwa, the Upper West Regional Head of the NRSA, observed that children were seriously at risk of road crashes due to their risk of crossing roads to and from schools without the assistance of any adult.
He also observed that the way children were “packed” in school buses pre-exposed them to serious havoc in a case of an accident saying, “the school children are packed in the buses like sardines and if there is any accident it will be very fatal.”
Mr Abrokwa stressed the need for effective stakeholder collaboration in curbing road crashes in the region as no single institution could do that alone.
On accident management, he noted that there should be proper coordination between the NRSA, Fire Service, Police Service, and Ambulance Service in responding to accident cases since each of the institutions had crucial roles to play to save the lives of victims at the accident scenes.
