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Upper West records 32 deaths in accidents last year
Wa, Jan. 20, GNA - Despite campaigns to minimize motor accidents in the Upper East Region, 32 people lost their lives in the region last year as against 21 last year.
Out of 48 people who sustained injuries, 12 of them had conditions that were serious and were hospitalized for some time. Deputy Superintendent of Police John Ferguson Dzineku, the Regional Commander of the of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service, told the GNA in an interview that 87 vehicles were involved in 54 accidents in 2008.
In 2007, there were 59 accidents involving 82 vehicles with 22 serious injuries. He expressed worry that the number of fatal accidents shot up from 18 in 2007 to 29 last year and called on road users to cooperate with police to reverse the situation. He attributed the rise to lack of maintenance of vehicles and the non adherence to road traffic regulations by drivers, motor riders, cyclists and other road users.
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Road accidents in Central Region reduce
Cape Coast, Jan 19, GNA - Deaths resulting from road accidents in the Central Region reduced from 110 in 2007 to 105 in 2008, due to intensified public education by the regional command of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU).
ASP Frederick Asare Mensah, Regional Commander of the unit who made this known to the GNA on Monday, said but for the accident involving the STC bus at Dompoase junction near Komenda in which about 19 people died, the number of deaths would have been much less, last year. Touching on the unit's public education, he said, knowing that the number of accidents increased during every election year, it intensified education through the FM stations, various transport unions, at lorry stations and "one on one" police-driver interaction. He noted that this yielded the desired result, hence the reduction not only in fatalities but also in the number of injured and vehicles involved.
ASP Mensah said in 2008, 551 accidents were recorded as against 589 in 2007, with the number of critically injured reducing from 150 in 2007 to 137 in 2008.
He said those who sustained various degrees of injuries in 2008, were 864, as against 1,215 in 2007, with 729 and 898 vehicles involved respectively.
He appealed to motorists and the general public to abide by road traffic rules and regulations to reduce avoidable accidents this year, to help reverse the image of the country, as an accident prone country.
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Accidents decrease in Volta Region
Ho, Jan. 15, GNA-Road accidents in the Volta Region have dropped from 577 in 2007 to 355 in 2008.
The 355 accidents involved 440 vehicles claiming 64 deaths, 127 serious injuries and 133 minor injuries.
Police Chief Inspector, John Kpano Station Officer of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service Ho, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the reduction in road accidents in the region was achieved through road safety education by the Regional Road Safety Commission.
Mr. Kpano however, said another road safety problem that needed tackling was the construction of "trenches" in the middle of highways by communities to reduce the incidence of pedestrians getting killed by speeding vehicles.
The Ghana News Agency counted about 15 unauthorized "trenches" between Asikuma to Juapong in addition to speed rumps constructed by the Ghana Highways Authority.
These "trenches" do not have any road signs to warn drivers and riders who have to brake all of sudden on approaching them causing passengers to jerk forward crashing into each other apart from increasing the risk of accidents. Such trenches are also causing damage to newly constructed roads in parts of the region.
The trenches, including GHA speed rumps have increased travel time from Ho to Accra for business travellers apart from making such journeys uncomfortable and tiring.
Source:
GNA
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More accidents recorded in 2008
Sunyani, Jan. 14, GNA - There were more deaths in motor accidents recorded last year in Brong Ahafo than in 2007, Assistant Superintendent of Police Paul Wesley Baah, regional head of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit said on Wednesday.
He explained to the Ghana News Agency that, the increased number of deaths was due to the "serious" nature of last year's accident cases. One hundred and eight persons died in 315 accident cases that involved 448 vehicles whilst there were 96 deaths in 325 accident cases recorded in 2007. The regional head stated that 72 of the accidents were very fatal, 62 serious, whilst 176 were minor ones, adding, 457 persons got injured in last year's accidents.
ASP Baah said over-speeding was a major cause of accidents in the region and advised drivers to obey the traffic regulation for drivers not to drive more that 50 kilometers per hour inside town. He mentioned over-loading, reckless driving, drunk driving and fatigue as other factors that contributed to accidents.
The regional MTTU boss advised drivers not to ignore the law that stipulated that they should rest for 30 minutes after every four hours drive and urged drivers and motor cycle riders to wear seat belts and crash helmets respectively whilst on the road. "A lot of accidents can be avoided if drivers and pedestrians obey road regulations", he said, adding, 369 drivers were arrested and charged for committing driving offences last year.
ASP Baah said 107 of the arrested drivers were arraigned before court and 64 of them fined a total of GHC 10,746, whilst one was sentenced to imprisonment and 10 discharged. He said 260 of the cases were still under investigations.
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Road accidents kill 245 people in Eastern Region last year
Koforidua (E/R), Jan. 13, GNA - A total of 245 people lost their lives through motor accidents in Eastern Regional in 2008 as against 215 in 2007, showing an increase of 30 deaths. The fatalities came from 1,642 cases of motor accidents recorded during the period with 1,465 persons sustaining various degrees of injuries.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Commander in charge of Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Police Superintendent J. Sarfo Peprah, said 86 out of the deaths was as a results of being knock-down in towns and villages by speeding drivers. He expressed worry about the high number of accidents cases and the deaths in the region and promised that his outfit would undertake series of educational training for road users this year to reduce the number.
Supt. Peprah attributed the high cases to over speeding, wrong over-taking and drunkenness on the part of some drivers and cautioned that a lot of measures would be put in place to redress the situation. He said the general election activities also contributed to the rise in accident cases, because supporters of political parties' disregarded rules and regulations of the MTTU, to the extent that speed limits of 50 km per hour in towns and villages were not adhered to. Sup. Peprah cautioned that his outfit would not spare any driver who goes contrary to the law this time round.
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Western Region records 673 road accidents in 2008
Takoradi, Jan. 8, -GNA- Mr. Thomas Bismark Boakye, Western Regional Co-ordinator of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) on Thursday stated that 673 road accidents including 354 minor cases were reported in the region last year. Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Takoradi, he said 904 vehicles were involved in the accidents which resulted in 155 deaths and 777 injuries. Mr. Boakye said there were 109 of the injuries were fatal while 205 were serious cases.
He said 13 deaths were recorded in the first quarter, 55 deaths in the second quarter and 42 and 45 deaths in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
Mr. Boakye said 87 accidents were reported in the first quarter, 167 in the second, 216 in the third and 203 in the fourth, adding that 120 vehicles were involved in the accidents in the first quarter, 210 vehicles in the second quarter while 262, and 312 vehicles were involved in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
He said twelve of the fatal accidents were recorded in the first quarter, 32 in the second quarter, 32 in the third quarter and 33 in the fourth quarter while 35, 50, 54 and 66 of the serious accidents were recorded in the first, second, third and fourth quarters respectively. Mr. Boakye said 35, 85, 130 and 104 of the minor accidents were recorded in the first, second, third and fourth quarters respectively.
He said the region occupied the eighth position in accidents cases in the country in the third quarter of last year and effort would be made to reduce accidents in the region this.
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Tema vehicular accidents claim 127 lives in 2008
Tema, Jan. 8, GNA - A total of 127 people lost their lives and 478 suffered various degrees of injuries in a total of 1,287 accidents recorded in the Tema Metropolis last year.
Records at the Tema Regional Motor, Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) indicate that a total of 1,580 private and commercial vehicles were involved in the accidents.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Alice Gyamfi, Regional MTTU Commander, who told the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, said the figure showed a decrease compared to 2007 data of 1,783 accidents. Giving a breakdown of the 2008 data, she said the Ashaiman office recorded the highest of 346 followed by Sakumono which had 227 accident cases.
The Tema main office recorded 212 accidents, Railways and Ports, 126 accidents, Community "2" MTTU office 95 accidents, Dodowa 91 accidents and Prampram 79 accidents.
Ada, Tema Manhean and Kpone MTTU offices also recorded 49, 42 and 20 accidents cases respectively. The Regional Commander indicated that a total of 148 drivers were prosecuted at the courts during the year out of which 80 were convicted to a fine and one was jailed.
She said the convicted cases yielded a total of GH¢5,174.72 in fines and forty-six cases were still on trail. ASP Gyamfi said, most of the cases involved drunk driving, careless driving and over-speeding. She attributed the decrease in the cases to the intensification of the Unit's educational programmes at lorry parks, markets, schools, churches and organisations.
She said her outfit also embarked on a number of highway checks on the Aflao, Akosombo and Tema beach roads as well as the motorway. The Regional Commander commended drivers for cooperating with them during such checks and advised them to comport themselves on the road to further reduce accident cases this year.
She said the unit had no towing vehicle and therefore depended on private companies to tow accident vehicles, a practice which causes a lot of inconvenience to the police and road users especially when it involves an articulator truck.
She therefore appealed to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to provide more parking spaces for vehicles especially harbour trucks, taxis and other commercial vehicles. ASP Gyamfi noted that parking on the shoulders of the road also provided hideouts for criminals to operate.
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