On the Ghanaian road safety scene, the last half-decade, spanning from 2019 to 2023, has witnessed a marginal decline in road crashes and deaths, igniting hopes for a significant reduction in this pressing public health concern.
However, amidst ongoing efforts to fortify adherence to traffic regulations and bolster road infrastructure, a closer look at the data during this period reveals a worrying trend that demands attention.
Contrary to the prevailing notion that commercial vehicles are the main culprits in road recklessness, private vehicles have now outpaced their counterparts in crash statistics, sparking grave concerns.
One might attribute the prevalence of private vehicle crashes to their abundance in the country, but a deeper inquiry amongst stakeholders exposes a multifaceted issue stretching beyond mere numbers.
Factors such as indiscipline, the efficacy of preventive strategies, and biased law enforcement have emerged as pivotal factors contributing to this private vehicles' lead in the statistics.
Crash data
Statistics sourced from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) reveal that a total of 73,830 road crashes were recorded over these five years crashes, involving 127,892 vehicles made up of 54,876 private vehicles, 45,955 commercial vehicles, and 27,061 motorcycles.
The data categorises private vehicles as Saloon cars, SUV/4x4, mini buses and government vehicles.
In 2019, the crash tally reached 13,877, entailing 9,652 private vehicles, 8,489 commercial vehicles, and 4,693 motorcycles.
The following year, 2020, witnessed 14,886 crashes, implicating 10,112 private vehicles, 9,356 commercial vehicles, and 5,684 motorcycles.
Moving on into 2021, the crash numbers surged to 15,972, involving 11,668 private vehicles, 10,381 commercial vehicles, and 6,103 motorcycles.
In 2022, 14,960 crashes transpired, with 11, 677 private vehicles, 8,645 commercial vehicles, and 5,432 motorcycles in the mix.
The subsequent year, 2023, recorded 14,135 crashes, featuring 10, 767 private vehicles, 8,084 commercial vehicles, and 5,149 motorcycles.
Over the five year period, 12, 446 persons died and 62, 323 got injured in the crashes.
Despite private vehicles dominating crash involvement, commercial vehicles surpassed them in the grim statistics of deaths and injuries resulting from these incidents because of the larger passenger occupancy in commercial vehicles.
Contributing Factors
The Head of Communications at the NRSA, Pearl Adusu Sateckla, who corroborated the peculiar case of private vehicles, stated that more than five years ago, commercial vehicles were dominating the crash data.
She mentioned that the NRSA intensified its sensitisation among commercial drivers and stepped up law enforcement with the police, resulting in a reduction in the number of commercial vehicles involved in crashes and tilting the scale.
Without discounting the fact that there were more private vehicles in the country, she said their drivers tend to violate a lot of traffic laws and regulations, especially speeding, jumping red lights, and wrongful overtaking, leading to more crashes.
"Many private vehicles move a lot, especially during the weekend to attend social events. Some of them get intoxicated, and they become a bit careless on the road; speeding and others," she said.
Ms Sateckla said because commercial vehicles belonged to unions and groups, they were easier to be reached for sensitisation while they could be sanctioned by their union leaders or management for being reckless.
On the contrary, she said, private vehicles were independent and could only be reached through traditional and social media adverts and outdoor public awareness programmes.
DVLA
Mr. Francis Johnny Amegayibor, a former Board Member of the DVLA and Former Treasurer, Ghana Automobile Distribution Association (GADA), expressed concern about the subject matter before.
In a report by the Ghana News Agency, he said the high rise in private vehicle crashes could be linked to the failure of many owners of private vehicles to do regular check-ups and maintenance of their vehicles.
He said private vehicles often flouted speed limits, used communication devices while driving as well as passed through unapproved routes, often resulting in crashes.
Private, Commercial Drivers
Some owners of private vehicles interviewed admitted that it was easier to get away with recklessness on the road because law enforcement officers were allegedly lenient with them.
Others said they were more careful than commercial drivers and that they were rather victims of the recklessness of their counterparts. A few others also believed the data was because of more private vehicles in the system.
"Commercial drivers are always the target of law enforcement officers because we are notorious for the bad reasons, but they have over pampered the private drivers," Kwame Egyir, a Trotro driver explained.
Another one, who only gave his name as Ibrahim said commercial drivers were relatively careful on the road because some passengers would call them out to do the right thing.
Solution
To reduce private vehicle crashes, Ms Sateckla said the NRSA, in collaboration with Street Sense, a Civil Society organisation, had now intensified awareness creation targeted at the private sector.
She said in addition to the "Stay Alive Campaign," personnel from the two organisations and the police were holding sensitisation programmes at offices and churches, where the majority of them could be found.
"We have been educating them but education without enforcement is entertainment. So we are working with the police to enforce the laws so crashes, in general, can be reduced," she said.
Ride hailing cars
Asked how vehicles from ride-hailing apps like Uber and Bolt are categorised during crashes, Ms Sateckla said they were added to commercial vehicles and given safety education through their organisations.
Traffitech-GH
To give the enforcement drive a short in the arm, the Ghana Police Service is expected to operationalise an automated system designed to keep both private and commercial drivers in check.
The system, Traffitech-GH, developed by Service uses cameras and sensors to automatically capture images and videos of vehicles that flout road traffic laws, including speeding and jumping of red light.
According to the Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr. Alexander Kwesi Obeng, Director of Education, Research and Training at the MTTD, and Coordinator of the Traffitech - GH platform, the system would be a game-changer.
He explained that the system, expected to be implemented in the coming months, would deploy fixed mobile-in - vehicle and radar gun devices to capture, among others, speeding and jumping of red light.
He explained that offences would be automatically transmitted to a back office for validation, and issuance of notifications of fines by SMS to the vehicle owner for payment.
He was optimistic that the Traffitech - GH system coupled with the "Police Invisible Eyes are watching" initiative would help change the notion of perceived corruption, ensure swift prosecution and beef up road safety.
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Celebrities
At the launch of this year's "Stop Speeding" campaign, David Osafo Adonteng, Acting Director-General, NRSA, said expressed concern about speeding, serving notice that road users, including high profile persons and celebrities who would breach the law would be made to face the full rigours of the law.
WHO
The annual number of road traffic deaths fell slightly to 1.19 million per year, according to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) report. Yet with more than two deaths occurring per minute and over 3200 per day, road traffic crashes remain the leading killer of children and youth aged 5-29 years.
The latest WHO global status report on road safety 2023 shows that since 2010, road traffic deaths have fallen by five per cent to 1.19 million annually. Yet, road crashes remain a persistent global health crisis, with pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users facing an acute and rising risk of death.
In September 2020, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/74/299 "Improving global road safety," proclaiming the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.
Call to Action
In Ghana's efforts to reduce road crashes, a comprehensive approach is required to whip both private and commercial vehicle drivers in line. There is the need for unbiased and rigorous enforcement of traffic laws, and intensified public awareness. Vehicle owners and drivers must ensure regular maintenance, strict adherence to traffic laws, and responsible driving.
