Causes Of Road Accidents In Ghana

Concerns have been expressed both on the electronic and print media over the recent spate of road accidents in the country. What is disturbing and disheartening is the fact that the accidents seem to be unending as fresh reports are made almost every day. In all such fatal accidents precious lives are lost, not to count the cost on the economy of Ghana.

It is against this background that, I write to discuss the causes and effects of road accidents in the country and also attempt at suggesting solutions to this national canker.

In my humble and candid opinion, the numerous accidents in the country can be summed up in two thematic factors. These are human and mechanical. Of the two, there is no doubt that the human factor outweighs the mechanical. Since the consequences of both factors have equal repercussions on their victims, they should be discussed thoroughly.

In the first place, in respect to the human factor, most drivers who are involved in fatal road accidents get drunk before they embark on their journeys. Such drunken drivers have poor sense of judgment. As a result they drive recklessly. They care less about road signs and so overtake other vehicles where they are not supposed to do so. This invariably ends in fatal road accidents.er

Notwithstanding, some illiterate drivers are also blamable. They do not understand road signs, let alone interpret them. They do not know when and where to overtake other drivers. Their inability to comprehend road signs breeds accidents. i.e leads to head on collisions. When such accidents occur the vehicles catch fire killing almost every passenger on board (RIP to the Kintampo victims).

Road accidents can also be attributed to over-speeding by drivers. The country experiences a lot of fatal accidents during occasions such as Christmas, Easter, and New Year. Because people travel home on such occasions to meet and reunite with relatives and friends. The drivers, taking advantage of the numerous passengers, drive at top speed in order that they will make more money. Meanwhile, the end results of over-speeding are fatal accidents for we should always remember that “over-speeding kills”.

The other factor which is mechanical also accounts for fatality in road accidents. The fact that some over aged vehicles are allowed to ply our roads is a serious issue. Certain parts of such vehicles break down on the roads resulting in accidents. This, if not curtail will continue to cause fatal accidents on our roads.

However, these accidents have damning consequences on the citizenry. Relative to this, the human resource base is reduced which in the long run affects productivity because some skilled workers are lost as it happened on the Tamale-Kintampo road recently.

In conclusion, I would like to suggest that the police should ensure that only road-worthy vehicles are allow to operate on our roads and in-service training given to the drivers. If these safety precautions are followed, fatal accidents will be reduced drastically.

Thank you.
David Alhassan
MBA Student, University of Cape Coast. Ghana