Central Region records 207 deaths in road crashes

A total of two hundred and seven (207) people were killed in road crashes in the Central Region last year, thereby recording an increase of 14 people over that of 2017 which was 193.

They were made up of 152 males and 55 females with 40 of them being below 18 years.

The Acting Central Regional Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Linda Affotey-Annang, who disclosed this in an interview with Ghana News Agency in Cape Coast said there were 904 road traffic accidents with 1,422 vehicles involved.

The number of injured persons increased from 1,545 in the previous year to 1591 in the year under review.

However, pedestrian knock downs reduced to 249 as against 307 in 2017.

Ms Affotey-Annang said of the cases, 646 were commercial vehicles, 539, private, while 237 involved motor bikes.

She  mentioned speeding, drunk driving, fatigue, mechanical faults, disabled vehicles, poor visibility at night, tyre bursts, wrongful overtaking and overloading of vehicles as some of the factors leading to road accidents.

She said the NRSC would not relent in its efforts to reduce road crashes and would continue to embark on rigorous educational and awareness creation campaigns to enlighten the public and intensify enforcement of laws to reduce road fatalities.

Ms Affotey-Annang called on drivers, passengers, pedestrians and other road users to be careful when using the road.

Source: GNA