NRSA urges police MTTD to prosecute footbridge offenders

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has called on the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service to arrest and prosecute pedestrians who disregard road safety regulations by failing to use footbridges provided at designated locations.

Director-General of the NRSA, Abraham Amaliba, said stricter enforcement was necessary to address the growing number of road crashes and fatalities involving pedestrians.

He stressed that footbridges were constructed to protect pedestrians and should not be treated as decorative structures.

“The footbridges are not there for decorative purposes; they are there for pedestrians to utilise them and be safe. If there is a footbridge and you decide not to use it and cross the road dangerously.

“Where there are no footbridges, there will be no justification to arrest anyone, but where there are footbridges, and you refuse to use them, you must be prosecuted. I call on the police MTTD to start arresting and prosecuting people who refuse to use footbridges,” Mr Amaliba stressed.

He made the appeal at the launch of the Safe Crossing, Safe Lives pedestrian safety campaign at Madina Zongo in the La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly (LaNMMA) in the Greater Accra Region on October 28.

The campaign, initiated by the Greater Accra Regional Office of the NRSA, seeks to promote responsible pedestrian behaviour and encourage the use of footbridges and other designated crossing facilities to reduce pedestrian-related crashes and deaths.

It is targeting high-risk areas in the region, including Adentan, Madina, Lapaz and Weija.

Mr Amaliba also called for closer collaboration between the police MTTD and metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure pedestrians comply with the regulations and traders are removed from walkways and other road infrastructure.

His call comes amid growing concerns about the encroachment of road pavements and pedestrian facilities by traders and hawkers in parts of Greater Accra.

A Daily Graphic report published on October 24 highlighted how the occupation of these spaces had become a major road safety concern, forcing pedestrians to walk onto busy roads and exposing themselves to the risk of being knocked down by vehicles.

According to the NRSA, pedestrian knockdowns account for 33 per cent of deaths recorded in reported road crashes.

An analysis of road traffic statistics by the Daily Graphic showed that 63,599 people died in road crashes across the country between 1991 and 2025, with approximately 20,988 of the fatalities resulting from pedestrian knockdowns.

The Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180), require pedestrians to use footbridges and underpasses provided at designated sections of highways.

Section 154(3) of the regulations states: “A pedestrian who fails to use a footbridge or an underpass where one is provided, commits an offence.”

Section 154(10) further provides: “A person who contravenes this regulation commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than five penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than seven days or to both.”

Despite these provisions, the Daily Graphic has over the years published several reports highlighting the failure of pedestrians to use available footbridges, putting their lives at risk.

Among them were reports published on August 6, 2020, titled “Footbridges on 'holiday' - Pedestrians put lives at risk on roads”; December 15, 2020, titled “Footbridges on holiday: let's act to save lives”; and October 28, 2024, titled “Fallow footbridges - Pedestrians preyed upon on roads”.

At the campaign launch, Mr Amaliba reiterated that the police must intensify enforcement of the regulations to discourage dangerous road-crossing practices and prevent avoidable deaths.

He said the NRSA recognised road safety as a collective responsibility and was working with the police MTTD and other stakeholders to address the high incidence of crashes.

Meanwhile, an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician at the National Ambulance Service (NAS), Dr Daniel Asare, urged the public and relevant institutions to support efforts to prevent pedestrian knockdowns, warning that road crashes placed considerable pressure on the country's emergency response system.

He explained that beyond the loss of lives, crashes had serious economic consequences and affected the availability of emergency medical services for other people in need.

Dr Asare acknowledged that government investment in ambulances had improved emergency response times compared with previous years but said road crashes continued to pose a major challenge.

“One severe pedestrian crash can take one ambulance for several hours from the scene to the hospital.

During that period, a pregnant woman in critical need of healthcare, a person with stroke, or a child with severe asthma has to wait with their life on the line for the next available ambulance,” he explained.

He said pedestrians should recognise that using footbridges was a safer option than risking their lives while crossing busy roads.

“What members of the public need to know is that footbridge use is better and safer than an ambulance; prevention is better than cure.

When you cross safely, you are not only saving your life; you are saving the emergency response system for other people who need it to survive,” he said.