Cape Coast, Nov. 19, GNA - Mr. Stephen Anokye, Central Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), on Thursday said that annually 1,600 people die in road accidents in the country. He said that 23 per cent of the figure is made up of children below 16 years and 42 per cent pedestrians.

Mr Anokye said that while 70 per cent of those killed annually in motor accidents were between 16 and 55 years, averagely, six persons were killed daily in road accidents.

Mr Anokye was speaking at an awards ceremony organized by the Central Region NRSC in Cape Coast, to honour public transport organisations and unions with proven track records of road safety in the Region. Mr Anokye said speeding was a major cause of road accidents that accounted for over 60 per cent of all reported cases. He disclosed that between January and June this year, 6,219 road accidents occurred, involving 8,594 vehicles, resulting in 4,470 injuries and 880 deaths, saying the situation was worse compared to that of last year.

Mr Anokye said the Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport introduced the awards scheme, to promote road safety practices among drivers and transport owners.

He said the Commission was working hard to make Ghana the safest in Africa in terms of road transport.

Mr Anokye said the criteria for selecting the awards winning organisations and unions included training of drivers in road safety, knowledge of hazard management, operational guidelines, welfare of members as well as customer and passenger satisfaction.

He said the NRSC has intensified its safety campaigns to help reduce road accidents and appealed to drivers to observe road safety rules and regulations in order to make the roads safe.

The Mayor of Cape Coast, Mr. Anthony Agyir Aikins noted that road safety measures were crucial to national development. The Metro Mass Transport Service emerged the overall winner and received a Television set and DVD player worth GHc5,000, followed by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union that received GHc3,000 and Ford Drivers Union that was rewarded with GHc2,000.