General News of Monday, 19 October 2009

Source: GNA

Ghana records 4,331 accidents from July- September with 353 deaths

Accra, Oct. 19, GNA - The Motor, Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service recorded 4,331 motor accidents from July to September nationwide, that claimed 353 lives and injured 2,579 people. Commercial vehicles recorded the highest number of accidents with 2, 576 cases, 221 deaths and 1,881 injuries, whilst private vehicles witnessed 1, 755 cases with 132 deaths and 698 injuries. Superintendent Debora Addison-Campbell, Deputy Commander of the MTTU, made this known to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra. She said in 2008, the MTTU recorded 4,192 accidents with 309 deaths and 1,953 injuries.

Supt. Addison-Campbell attributed the carnage on the roads to the failure of road users to observe road signs, over-speeding, drunk-driving and lack of maintenance of vehicles. She advised passengers not to carry large sums of money on them since it encourage armed robbers to attack commercial vehicles on the highways.