More males died in road crashes in 2017 – NRSC
Out of the 2,076 deaths recorded through road crashes in 2017, a whopping 1,562, representing 75.2 per cent, were males, while 514 women died, representing 24.8 per cent.
Also in the same period, a total of 12,843 cases of road traffic crashes, resulting in the injury of 12,166 persons, were recorded.
Mrs Mary Obiri Yeboah, Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) revealed at a press conference on Tuesday, in Accra.
Giving an analysis of the data, she explained that the records translate into a 2.66 per cent increase for road crashes and 7.73 per cent for injured persons.
Mrs Obiri Yeboah noted that records available to the commission also showed that out of the 3,300 pedestrians who were knocked down by vehicles, 879 died while 2,421 sustained various degrees“ of injuries.
Comparing the involvement of the various categories of vehicles in road crashes in the years 2017 and 2016, she said last year saw an increase in more motorcycle crashes from 2,827 in 2016 to 3,279 in 2017, representing 23.35 per cent.
She said another category of vehicle that saw a surge was private vehicles, which recorded a slight increase from 8,555 in 2016 to 8,877 last year.
Touching on traffic offenses in the past year, she said, a total of 3,043 persons were processed for courts, out of which, 2,509 cases earned convictions, including 13 custodial sentences, with GH¢1, 240,862 paid as fines.
Commenting on the cases recorded in the first two months of this year, Mrs Obiri Yeboah said 2018 started on a very stressful note, recording deaths in excess of the monthly average and called on all and sundry to work together to help save lives.
She said comparing statistics gathered by the Commission in the beginning of the years 2017 and 2018, indicates that, the number of road traffic crashes, persons killed and persons injured have increased by 14.3 per cent, 10.4 per cent and 28.7 per cent respectively.
Mrs Obiri Yeboah said in the same period, vehicles involved in road crashes have also increased, adding that, the Commission considered the trend unacceptable since these crashes were recorded around the Christmas and New Year festivities, where stakeholder scaled up education.
She cautioned all road users both motorists and pedestrians to observe Road Safety rules and regulations.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Alexander Kweku Obeng, a Staff Officer at the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) said the police would get tough on road offenders.
“We are going to look out for bad nuts on the road, investigate and prosecute them. There will be no mercy when road users break the law. The indiscipline on our roads is too much”, he said.
Source: GNA