TRANSPORT-GHANA: Road Carnage On The Rise

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Edward Ameyibor

ACCRA, Oct 14, Oct 14 1998 (IPS) - Accidents on Ghana’s roads have become the number five cause of death in the west African country, traffic officials have said.

Screaming headlines like “15 burnt to death as tanker crashes into bus” and “30 perish in accident” are now common in Ghanian newspapers.

These accidents are attributed mainly to human error, alcohol, illiteracy and mechanical faults.

A recent survey carried in the northern region capital of Tamale to mark a “National day against blindness” revealed that 25 percent of commercial drivers are blind in at least one eye.

“Bad judgments, wrongful overtaking, over speeding are the main human errors,” said Justice Amegashie, the director of Vehicle Examination and Licensing Board.

Some drivers, who cannot read, find it hard to understand road signs and warnings of approaching danger.

“Drunkeness and reckless driving are other factors”, according to Alhaji Mustapha Garba, Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU).

He said most accidents happen during the weekends when most motorists drive under the influence of alcohol.

Ghana has a high road fatality rate in Africa, with 111 death rate in 10,000 vehicles in 1997. This, officials of the ministry of roads and transport say, is higher than Cote d’Ivoire’s and Nigeria’s who recorded between 60 and 80 deaths respectively in 10,000 vehicles last year.

Last week the government opened a modern emergency unit for road accident victims at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nations’s premier and biggest.

The government also is reconstructing the hospital’s main surgery unit, while the police is introducing an alcohol test of drivers.

Garba, addressing members of the Ghana Road Transport Union in the Eastern Region capital of Koforidua recently, said a driver with more than 0.8 percent alcohol in his breath will not be allowed to drive. “Give him a bed to sleep until he recovers,” he said.

One company, the Volta Alluminium Company (VALCO), has instructed all its drivers to use dimmed headlights during the day to help oncoming vehicles to recognise them.

The government, reacting to the high rate of accidents, has amended the road traffic law, imposing a maximum of two million cedis fine and long-prison terms for offenders.

One US Dollar is equal to 2,323 cedis.

Under the old colonial law, reckless driving attract a fine of only five pounds (about 8 US Dollars).

This year alone, 676 drivers have been fined 575.45 million cedis, or sent to jail between a period of three months to one year.

The Ministry of Roads and Transport estimates the nation spends about seven million US Dollars annually on the cost of road accidents – health care, property damage and lost hours in production.

To brighten Accra roads at night, the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) recently introduced solar powered poles on an experimental basis on the road to the University of Ghana, north of Accra. Unlit roads were identified as one of the major causes of accidents at night.

Within 24 hours, a car had destroyed one of the poles.

In some parts of Accra, drivers flee to avoid being lynched after knocking down pedestrians.

Education also is not helping much. This is because annual Easter and Christmas road safety campaigns attract only school children and the police.

“Most commercial drivers are usually on the roads making money,” observed a policeman.

Garba’s unit recorded 824 deaths in 10,180 accidents throughout the country last year ” which is about 20 percent reduction compared to 1995.” In 1995, 1,059 deaths were recorded in 10,923 accidents.

The policeman believes that the intensification of police patrols helped to slow down accidents last year.

This year the police are predicting a higher figure due to improved roads which encourages drivers to overspeed.

“A typical example is the new Dodowa-Accra road which claims more than 10 lives a week, said Thomas Nartey, a traffic official in Accra.

To escape accidents, some drivers are turning to charms from ‘powerful medicine men” or to the charismatic churches.

Prayers are said for the vehicle which is sprinkled with “holy water”. Before each journey, the driver says a short prayer, mostly a verse from the Book of Psalms.

“The answer is more education of drivers, strict observation of road signs and implementation of the law against traffic offenders”, said Amegashie.

Most people, including President Jerry Rawlings, a tireless road safety campaigner, cannot agree more.