The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has inaugurated its 13-member Road Safety Council as part of efforts to reduce road fatalities and injuries.

The move was in collaboration with the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) to combat the menace by sensitizing drivers and other road users on the need to change their attitudes towards the usage of the road.

The Council members are from the AMA, Ministry of Transport, National Road Safety Commission, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, Ministry of Roads and Highways, the Department of Urban Roads, Ghana Highways Authority, the Ghana Police and Ghana Health services.

Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, called on the Council to show commitment to its mandate to reduce the high incidence of accidents.

“To achieve our road safety goals in Accra, we must collaborate as city authorities and this required a governance system that would bring the AMA, national agencies and other key partners together to agree on approaches and critical interventions,” he said.

Mr Sowah, who doubles as the Chairman of the Council, said the AMA’s road safety reports indicate that Accra recorded 13,616 crashes from 2011 to 2015, with 951 fatalities, which did not paint a good picture.

Available data from the Motor, Transport and Traffic Department of the Ghana Police Service showed that 111 road deaths were recorded in 2016 and 92 in 2017 within the Accra Metropolitan Area.

He said the crashes subjected its victims to lifelong injuries and affected their socio-economic situation.

Mr Osei Kufour, Initiative Coordinator of the AMA-BIGRS, who led the Council members through their mandate, called on them to implement the Accra Road Safety Strategy 2018-2030, and any related safety plans to the letter.