Cape Coast, Jan. 12, – A total of
193 persons died through road accidents in the Central Region last year as
against 138 in 2016, representing 28.4 per cent increase, the Motor Traffic and
Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service has revealed.
The figure was made up of 124
males and 38 females with 32 of the victims below 18 years.
Assistant Superintendent of
Police (ASP)Oboasiatwum Asiase Peprah of the Central Regional MTTD who made
this known to the Ghana News Agency in Cape Coast said a total of 975 road
accidents were recorded last year as against 789 in the previous year.
He revealed that the number of
vehicles involved in the accidents increased from 1,168 in 2016 to 1,422 last
year indicating a surge of 17.8 per cent.
A total of 1,422people were
injured and 232 pedestrians were knocked down, he stated.
The MTTD Commander said human
error was a major contributory factor for road accidents and advised drivers to
be law-abiding and adhere to safety regulations.
He indicated that the surge in
road fatalities required from the various road safety stakeholders such as
Ministry of Roads and Highways, Department of Urban Roads, Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Authority and the National Road Safety Commission to scale up efforts
to drastically reduce it.
He mentioned the factors
contributing to the road accidents to include blatant disregard for road
traffic regulations, distracted driving, over-speeding, drink driving, wrongful
overtaking, and reckless driving among others.
ASP Preprah gave the assurance
that the department would double its efforts this year through rigorous
educational and awareness creation campaigns to enlighten the public and
intensify enforcement of laws to reduce the clashes further.
He appealed to organisations and
other corporate bodies to emulate the example of some companies who had offered
assistance to the Unit to ensure maximum road safety.
ASP Preprah called on drivers,
passengers, pedestrian and other road users to be cautious when using the road.
GNA
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