Ghana losing her youth in road accidents

Accra, Feb. 13 GNA - Ghana is gradually losing many of its economically active population through road accidents because her economically active age group 15-60, which comprised breadwinners, recorded a figure of 8,189 fatalities between 1994 and 2004 representing 66.7 per cent of the national fatality cases.

Mrs May (May) Obiri-Yeboah in-Charge of Managing, Planning and Education of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), announced this at a well attended programme on the education and training of parents, teachers and children at Gbawe, near Accra on how to prevent motor accidents, especially those involving pedestrians. She said during that same period pedestrian fatality figures stood at 6,658 representing 43.6 percent of the national fatality cases. She said children between 0-14 age group recorded a figure of 2,689 implying that a considerable number of children were dying through road traffic accidents.

Mrs Obiri-Yeboah said available accident data in 2004 indicated that "road crossing" was ranked first with 67.1 per cent among other road related actions which led to most pedestrian deaths and injuries. She said the Greater Accra Region at the same period recorded 299 deaths representing 15.2 per cent of the National Road User Class Severity and Fatality report.

Among the persons killed were 143 pedestrians representing 47.8 per cent that ranked first among other road user class fatalities while the number of persons injured within the period was 3,483. Mrs Obiri Yeboah said although Greater Accra had the highest motor vehicle population, it was still unacceptable to record such high pedestrian road casualties in the nation.

She urged parents and guardians to consider themselves as partners and to complement the effort of road safety teachers. She said parents should teach their children the rules of road crossing, survival skills, and traffic safety information so that they survived in today's traffic.

Mrs. Annie Vivian Antwi, a Resource Person with the NRSC, said the objective of the campaign was to bring about sustained reduction in child pedestrian accidents and casualties through education, dramatisation and demonstration.