The Free Press says the forecast of the country’s vehicular population to hit 720,000 by 2005 at the present 10 per cent rate of increase annually, have implications on the road safety in the country.

Further to this Ghana has been rated the second highest road traffic accidents prone among six West African countries.

Briefing the paper of road traffic accidents in the country, Mr Noble J. Appiah, Executive Director of National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) said a sample data conducted among the six countries, Guinea rated highest with 121 deaths per every 10,000 road accidents, followed by Ghana at 73 deaths per 10,000.

Nigeria is third with 65 deaths in 10,000 cases and Senegal, Sierra Leone and Benin follow the order with 64, 21 and 14 deaths in 10,000 respectively.

Mr Appiah noted that to curb the soaring rate of road accidents in the country the Commission had put in place certain measures to sensitise the people on the importance of observing road regulations.

The measures include, awareness strategies involving all the stakeholders in the transport operations have been initiated - to meet the media occasionally, the general public and the educational institutions, to sensitise them on road safety awareness.

Other long term measures are also being initiated by the NRSC to ensure accidents reduction and prevention, focusing on seven major problems such as children pedestrians, overspeeding, drunken driving, black spot or hazardous spots, emergency or rescue operation involving medical service and the professional driver.