The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has confirmed 17 persons lost their lives in four separate road accidents in one weekend – the 12th and 13th of March 2022.
On Saturday, 12th March 2022 at 3:00 pm on the Jasikan-Bowri Kyirahene road in the Oti Region, a Sprinter bus with registration no. GN 4310-19 driving toward Jasikan decided to overtake a taxicab and had a head-on collision with a Toyota Fish (GT 6079-20) which was moving in the opposite direction.
Three people died with several others sustaining injuries.
On the same day on the Achimota Overhead, NI, Greater Accra Region, a truck with registration no. GC 7102-21 moving from Lapaz toward Tema veered off its lane into the opposite lane crashing into a Toyota saloon vehicle with registration no. GW 1015- 21.
No death was recorded but two people were injured.
In the early hours of Sunday, 13th March 2022, at Oframase, near Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, a Sprinter bus with registration no. GC 6521-21 run into a stationary truck with registration no. 9290 D 03 originated from Burkina Faso killing five persons with several others sustaining injuries.
On the same day at Asuboi, Eastern Region, nine persons died, two of whom were students of the University of Education Winneba (UEW), when a Hyundai Universe bus with registration no. AK 324-22 transporting the UEW students from Sunyani toward Accra crashed into a 40-footer container loaded with wood that had fallen partially on the road after a previous accident.
According to the NRSA, its preliminary investigations indicate that excessive speeding, wrongful overtaking, inattentiveness, disabled vehicles and fatigue are the critical contributory factors to the crashes recorded.
The Authority, in a statement, said it is scaling up the “Stay Alive” campaign for 2022 and the related media and outreach programmes.
Further, Road Safety Inspectors have been deployed at major transport terminals to ensure compliance to road safety directives on two drivers per long-distance route and the use of vehicle logbooks, among others.
To complement these efforts, the Authority has appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for an increased presence of the police on high-risk corridors to help enforce traffic regulations, including excessive speeds by drivers.
The Authority disclosed that despite the frequent occurrence of road traffic crashes, its resultant injuries and death have declined by 3.7% and 9.2% respectively in the month of January and February 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021.
“However, the last few days have seen a rise in crashes which may not necessarily mean a rise in crashes or crises situation.”
The Authority has called for calm and support from the public for the operationalisation of its mandate and implementation of existing strategies to improve the road safety situation in the country.
