General News of Monday, 22 October 2018
Source: yen.com.gh
2018-10-22
File photo
On a daily basis, so many Ghanaians lose their lives to road accidents. This trend has seen Ghana lose so much of her human potential with the recent one being the deceased musician, Ebony, whose death rocked the entire nation.
The Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) has revealed that an average of six (6) people die in road accidents every day in Ghana.
Also, figures from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) show that more than 336 persons died as a result of road accidents in the first two months of 2018 alone.
What this means is that a total of 2,095 road crashes were recorded in January and February alone.
It is a known fact that travelling the major streets of government could be a scary encounter especially when you get to see posters as “200 passengers died here” in every 100-200 meters of your journey.
So far, based on the various news reports on road accidents, we explore some of the dangerous roads we have in Ghana today.
1. Tema Motorway
The 18-kilometre road which is fully cemented links the cities of Accra and Tema.
Constructed way back in the 1960s, this stretch of road was aimed at ensuring the free movement of goods from the Tema harbour to other parts of the country.
It has been years now since the construction of this road and concerns have been raised for it to be refurbished especially when it seems to have lost its relevance.
So many passengers have lost their lives in the process leaving this stretch to be one of the dangerous roads in the country.
2. Accra-Kumasi road
This 202 km stretch of road has caused the death of thousands of passengers across the country.
Day in and day out, passengers risk losing their life due to the sharp curves and scattered cracks, this road continuous to pose as a journey of no return.
3. Accra-Tamale road
The Accra-Tamale road is arguably one of the longest journeys in Ghana. Most deaths on this stretch of road have been linked to tiredness.
Also, the non-availability of road rails, street lights, and warning signs have made this road very risky to ply on.
4. Nsawam-Pokuase road
The same development can be made about the Nsawam-Pokuase road.
The recent unfortunate incident with 8 passengers died after an articulated truck transporting cement crashed into a passenger vehicle.
The articulated truck’s driver’s mate, who was sitting on the load at the time of the accident reportedly fell onto the ground and was crushed by a moving car.
From the beginning of the year, the country has suffered many road accidents with the recent being that which cost the life of dancehall artiste, Ebony and two other friends of hers.
Nana Addo had once taken to his Facebook page saying that he had instructed the ministers of interior and roads to find immediate solutions to the menace of road accidents in the country.
Reports from the National Road Safety Commission A total of 2,076 people died in road traffic accidents in 2017.
In fact, 514 females, comprising 379 above 18 years and 135 below 18 years, were killed in 2017.
A special breakdown of the category of motor vehicles involved is 8,080 commercial vehicles, 8,877 private vehicles, and 3,487 motorcycles.
The number of motorcycles involved in accidents recorded in 2017 was 3,487. The regional breakdown of persons killed from highest to lowest is Eastern – 374; Ashanti – 335; Accra – 296; Brong Ahafo – 253; Central – 193; Northern – 136; Tema – 125; Western – 125; Volta – 120; Upper West – 61; and Upper East – 58.