Some Hard Facts Pointing to Motor Accident Trends in Ghana
Accident trends
About 1,300 persons were killed in road traffic crashes between January and June 2022.
This represents a 10.59 per cent decrease in the number of persons killed by road crashes within the same period last year.
Additionally, 7,997 persons sustained various injuries through road accidents within the same period, a 2.3 per cent decrease in the numbers.
This was contained in provisional statistics on road safety from January to June 2022 released by the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA).
According to the statistics, the deaths and the injuries were as a result of 7,687 crashes that occurred across the country involving 13,248 vehicles.
Also, within the same period, 1,356 pedestrians were also knocked down by vehicles, representing a 7.7 per cent decrease in the number of cases.
A total of 2,924 lives were lost through road carnage in 2021. The figure was a 12.9% increase in deaths compared to the previous year, which recorded 2,589 deaths.
Some 15,680 persons suffered injuries in 2021 from 15,972 accidents. There were 1,106 more accidents and an increase of 163 more injuries, compared to 2020.
Some major accidents over the period
- Six children died in a ghastly car accident
On 13 May 2022, reports of the death of six school children, between ages four and 15, three of whom were siblings, agonized the public.
They are said to have died after a car ran over them, killing them on the spot at Matamallam, a suburb of Krachi West Municipality of the Oti Region.
One other, Emmanuel Wasah, sustained injuries and was taken to the Kete Krachi Hospital.
The Toyota Saloon car, with registration number GR 2392-22, which knocked them down, was said to have experienced a mechanical fault.
Preliminary investigations revealed the children closed from the Matamallam D/A School and were walking home when the driver lost control of the vehicle and ran into them.
- A road crash in February killed 17 passengers and injured 44 others early Wednesday, 3 February.
A police statement said the accident occurred when two passenger buses travelling in opposite directions collided head-on in a town near Buipe, a community along the Kumasi-Tamale highway.
Sixteen persons died on the spot, while one more died at a hospital where the injured were receiving treatment.
The deceased included 12 males, five females, and one child.
The accident involved two buses with registration numbers GT 3345-16 and AC 1699-20.
They were travelling from Kumasi to Zebila and from Garu to Kumasi, respectively, when they ran into each other.
Three fatalities were recorded in the Central Region and 16 in the Eastern Region on Friday, 26 February 2021.
Joy FFM’sAlfred Amoh reported that a truck conveying mourners from Assin Nyankomase to Assin Misrenyame veered off the Assin Nyankomase-Assin Senchiem main road and somersaulted several times.
Three passengers died on the spot, and several others sustained severe injuries, including the driver.
The accident involved two Kia Grandbird buses with registration numbers GT 5629-19 and GE 5510-15, one of which was a VIP bus.
According to reports, those who died included the driver and the mate of the VIP bus.
A total of 13 males and three females lost their lives in this one.
One occupant of the Benz car who was rescued in a critical condition, was rushed to the LEKMA Hospital.
The driver of the Mercedez Benz vehicle reportedly ignored warning signals of an earlier accident on the road and ran into a 20 footer container that had fallen on the street.
Police were present at the scene to direct traffic. They were supervising the removal of the container from the road when the second accident occurred and resulted in the deaths of the three persons.
The accident happened on Saturday, 20 March 2021.
They were travelling to Accra from Kumasi on the bus with registration number GW 7444 – 21 when the crash occurred at about 2:30 pm on Sunday, 12 April.
According to the police, the car burst a tyre, causing the driver, 35-year-old Eric Ohemang, to lose control.
Eleven died on the spot, including an eight-year-old girl at Alipe in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region.
A Toyota minibus with registration number AS 2872-20 veered off its lane and collided head-on with a DAF tipper truck with registration number NR 578, loaded with sand.
There were 18 persons on board travelling from Tamale to Kumasi.
The minibus driver was one of the people who died on the spot.
The crash occurred on Tuesday, 13 April 2021, at around 7:30 pm.
The accident occurred after a commercial vehicle (trotro) rammed into a faulty trailer parked in the middle of the road at about 4:30 am on Wednesday, 14 April.
According to eyewitnesses, the trailer driver failed to place any sign indicating that the truck had broken down.
The trotro driver, on top speed, could not see the stationary truck, which carried a number plate supposedly issued in the Republic of Togo, resulting in the crash.
The driver of the trotro and another occupant died on the spot.
The Ghana police and the Ambulance Service personnel were at the scene to rescue persons trapped in the wreckage.
Three innocent persons died while three others battled for their lives after they were knocked down by a car engaged in a racing competition at the 37 Lorry Station area in Accra. It was a Toyota Camry Salon car with registration number GR- 1708 -21 driving from the direction of the Accra’s Trade Fair site at La and heading towards the 37 Roundabout, which lost control and crashed.
Together with a Mercedes Benz saloon car, the drivers defied road regulations and engaged in a competition within the high-security military zone where the Burma Camp is also located.
The incident occurred at about 8:30 pm on Wednesday, 14 April, the same day two persons lost their lives in an accident at Tesano in Accra, making it 17 deaths within two days.