Our roads: Silent killers claiming more lives than diseases

In the first quarter of 2025, Ghana witnessed a grim reality on its roads: approximately 800 lives were lost and 500 people injured in road accidents. 

This surpasses fatalities from viral diseases during the same period, highlighting road accidents as a major public health crisis demanding urgent, comprehensive action.

Despite this, road safety often receives less attention than communicable diseases, a critical oversight in national health priorities.

Causes

A key factor driving this crisis is the widespread neglect of basic mathematical and technical principles essential for road safety.

Speeding is a common cause of accidents, often due to drivers’ misunderstanding of how speed, distance and reaction time interact.

Many fail to grasp that stopping distances increase exponentially as speed rises, leading to dangerous miscalculations and avoidable collisions.

Compounding this problem is the prevalence of poorly maintained vehicles on Ghana’s roads. Defective brakes, worn tires with poor grip, and malfunctioning lights that reduce visibility create hazardous conditions, turning daily commutes into potential disasters.

These technical faults act like ticking time bombs, waiting to trigger accidents.

Action

The time for complacency has passed. Key stakeholders-including the Ministry of Roads and Highways, the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) and law enforcement-must move beyond words and implement concrete strategies to curb this deadly trend.

A critical step is enforcing mandatory, regular vehicle inspections.

Thorough checks by qualified professionals can identify and fix mechanical faults before they cause accidents.

This proactive approach would significantly reduce the number of unsafe vehicles on the road.

 

 

Equally important is a shift in how speed limits are enforced.

Clear, visible signage must be paired with consistent monitoring and strict penalties that genuinely deter speeding.

Without effective enforcement, speed limits remain meaningless.

Education

Public awareness campaigns must go beyond generic safety advice and focus on the mathematical realities of speeding.

Demonstrating how doubling speed can quadruple braking distance, for example, can profoundly influence driver behaviour. Understanding these facts helps drivers appreciate the forces involved in high-speed crashes and the risks they take by exceeding limits.

Drivers themselves have a vital role in reducing accidents. Cultivating a culture of vigilance and responsibility is essential.

This includes learning the basic math behind speed and stopping distances, maintaining vehicles regularly and practicing defensive driving.

Anticipating hazards, keeping safe distances, and adjusting driving to road and weather conditions can save lives.

National emergency

The tragic loss of life on Ghana’s roads is a national emergency.

Recognising the importance of mathematics and technical vehicle integrity in road safety, enforcing stringent inspections and rigorously applying speed limits are critical measures to reverse this deadly trend.

Success requires collaboration among government agencies, civil society, and individual drivers.

Together, we can transform Ghana’s roads from silent killers into safe pathways that unite and strengthen the nation.

The writer is a system engineer.
E-mail: andtrewsowusu45@gmail.com