NRSA Expresses Disquiet Over Weekend Crashes

The Authority regrets the number of road traffic crashes recorded last weekend.

In a press release signed by the Corporate Affairs of the National Road Safety Authority, Four (4) separate road crashes occurred in the Eastern, Oti, and Greater Accra regions leading to 17 reported deaths with several cases of injuries among others.

Preliminary investigations indicated that excessive speeding, wrongful overtaking, inattentiveness, disabled vehicles, and fatigue are the critical contributory factors to the crashes recorded.

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) expresses its condolences to the families of the deceased persons and wishes the injured a speedy recovery.

Consistent with policy, the Authority has commissioned an investigation into the crashes.

In the interim, the Authority is scaling up the ‘Stay Alive’ campaign for 2022 and the related media and outreach programs.

It added that Road Safety Inspectors have been deployed at major transport terminals to ensure compliance to road safety directives on two drivers per long-distance route and the use of vehicle logbooks, among others.

To complement these efforts, the Authority appeals to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), George Awudi-Dampare for an increased presence of the police on high-risk corridors to help enforce traffic regulations, including excessive speeds by drivers.

The Authority has noted that, despite the frequent occurrence of road traffic crashes, its resultant injuries and death have declined by 3.7% and 9.2% respectively in January and February 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021.

However, the last few days have seen a rise in crashes which may not necessarily mean a rise in crashes or crises situation.

The Authority calls for calm and support from the public for the operationalization of its mandate and implementation of existing strategies to improve the road safety situation.