A total of 85 people lost their lives through road accidents in the Eastern Region between January and March this year, as against 55 people killed during the same period in 2013.

Police Chief Superintendent Samuel Tetteh, Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Koforidua on Friday, said a total of 390 accident cases was recorded during the period with as many as 530 people getting injured.

C/Supt Tetteh said 305 commercial, 191 private vehicles and 74 motor bikes were involved in those accidents, adding that 87 pedestrians were knocked down during the period.

He expressed concern about the continuous increase in the number of accident cases in the region with fatalities, in spite of all the numerous road safety education campaigns his outfit undertook last year.

C/Supt Tetteh said it was unfortunate that drivers continued to ignore road signs and road safety regulations which is the only way to ensure a reduction in road accidents.

He called on all the major stakeholders in the transport sector to strive to eliminate the human errors that often lead to accidents.

The MTTU Commander advised drivers and other road users, especially commercial drivers, against excessive speeding, drunk driving, driving under the influence of hard drugs, non-maintenance of vehicles, driving tired, wrong overtaking, engaging one hand on mobile phones while driving and other unacceptable practices.

He said his outfit was putting a lot of measures in place, including increasing road visibility, especially at the accident prone areas in the region, aimed at reducing road accident cases this year.