At 2 pm, bubbly seven-year-old Kofi Yeboah closes from school in Kumasi, a moment he is always happy about. Like many children in his neighbourhood, he walks to school every morning and returns using the same route in the afternoon, navigating the shoulders of the busy highway in Ghana’s second-biggest city.
But tragedy struck as the boy wiggled his backpack and strolled in excitement to get home. His journey home was cut short by a speeding vehicle on the highway, a few meters from his school.
Kofi’s excitement was abruptly silenced when he was hit by the car, dragging his fragile body to the ground, and leaving him with severe injuries.
He gasped for air in pain until help came along.
Kofi’s ordeal does not stand alone, but one of the copious incidents, shedding light on the urgency for an intervention.
The absence of a walkover on the highway leaves pedestrians vulnerable to road crashes.
Data from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) reveal that 952 children died from road crashes between 2019 and 2021.
The alarming figures come as no surprise. Using roads in Ghana, as a pedestrian, a driver, a passenger or even a food vendor along a major road poses unforeseen dangers.
The NRSA reported 7,470 road traffic crashes from January to July 2024, with approximately 1,237 people dying from road crashes between January and June 2024.
Kofi’s crash incident is one of many travesties of safety on roads as the streets become battlegrounds, especially when school bells ring for closure.
A five-year study of crash data suggests that many school-going children are at risk during their daily commute to and from school on roads.
The researchers discovered children as among the most vulnerable road users. Child pedestrians under the age of 10 form the highest number of victims of crashes.
This key finding emerged from collaborative research published in Accident Analysis and Prevention, a globally recognised top-tier journal.
The study was conducted by Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Adanu, a research professor at the University of Alabama; Richard Dzinyela, a PhD candidate at Texas A&M University; and Dr. William Agyeman of the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), Kumasi.
The study shows school-going children are most unlucky as road crashes and rampancy take a toll. They are also likely to be killed when the driver is speeding and paying no attention on the road.
The younger the child, the more severe outcomes are expected.
Findings from the study show that children crossing or walking along roads, especially in urban settings and city centres, are more prone to brutal injuries.
Girls and children less than 3 years old are more likely to be killed as pedestrians.
Crashes involving motorcycles are more likely to record incapacitating injuries, while those involving bicycles are less likely to be severe.
In addition, children walking along or crossing the road are likely to sustain incapacitating injuries.
Key outcomes from the research include the severity of the crashes: out of the 2,545 crashes analysed, 30.06 per cent were fatal, 53.67 per cent led to incapacitating injuries, and 16.27 per cent resulted in minor injuries.
The culprits are predominantly male drivers who constitute 95.8 per cent of the crashes, with such incidents being 7.8 per cent more likely to be fatal compared to crashes involving female drivers.
Alarmingly, from January to July 2024, 1,405 people died in road accidents in Ghana, which is a 9.7 per cent increase for the same period in 2023.
Road accidents in Ghana do not only cost lives, but drain the country’s straining wallet. Road traffic injuries cost Ghana 1.6 per cent of its GDP annually.
The researchers present an evidence-based foundation for the adoption of a safe systems approach to address general traffic safety issues in Ghana.
From a dark tale, the researchers make an interesting case of road accidents, shedding light on the critical state of child pedestrian safety in Ghana.
“With the specific focus on child pedestrian safety concerns, there is an urgent need for incorporating safety into road infrastructure designs to accommodate children to minimize their risks of being knocked down,” said Richard Dzinyela, PhD Candidate, Texas A&M University, USA.
At high-risk locations, the novel ‘Lollipop Stand’ approach can be adopted not for crossing only, but for teaching safety for child pedestrians.
“There is the need to incorporate road safety education into the education curriculum at an early stage to educate children on safe crossing behaviors and risks associated with traffic exposures when using the road,” noted Richard.
It is indeed possible to build a society where parents are equipped with sufficient guidelines to train their children and to evaluate their children’s ability to independently cross the road safely.
But speed should meet caution, and as a long-term measure, overpasses may be constructed to aid in the safe crossing of high-speed multi-lane highways.
The solutions to road accidents are multifaceted, but they fall at the doorsteps of authorities and policymakers who wield the infrastructural and enforcement responsibilities.
The provision of conspicuous pedestrian crossings, traffic control devices, and speed calming measures can help to minimise the chances of child pedestrian crashes.
“As a policy directive, the consequences of knocking down a child pedestrian should be set so high that drivers take extra precaution, especially at roadway locations that are likely to have child pedestrians,” suggested Richard Dzinyela.
Many public schools, which cannot boast of school buses, facilitate the widespread ordeal as experienced by young Kofi.
School buses should be available to safely transport pupils, while trained personnel are assigned at unsignalised intersections and other unsafe areas to assist children in crossing roads.
“These measures, if implemented, are expected to significantly reduce the number and severity of child pedestrian crashes in Ghana,” noted Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Adanu, a research professor at the University of Alabama.
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Minister of Interior-designate, Mohammed Muntanka Mubarak
