The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) has appealed to leaders of the various political parties contesting the 2016 elections to ensure that their supporters respect road regulations while travelling to various locations for political rallies, among others.

The need to drive more responsibly during this year’s election season, according to NRSC, has become necessary because reports indicate that more lives are lost due to road crashes in Ghana during elections.

NRSC made the appeal when it engaged the various political parties at a national dialogue on road safety, releasing the ‘road safety code for political parties’ to create opportunities for political parties.

The dialogue held on Tuesday at the Miklin Hotel in Accra offered the platform for the various parties to share their programmes on road safety with the electorate in the run-up to the December 7 polls with the view to ensuring that lives are not lost unnecessarily through road crashes this year.

Statistics

NRSC reported that “more than 1,800 – 2,000 people die annually in Ghana through road traffic crashes. 42% of the fatalities (deaths) are pedestrians. 23% of pedestrian deaths involved children below age 16. 60% of crashes are caused by speeding. 18-55 years age group account for 60% of fatalities. 70% of those who die are males.”

Director of Planning and Programs at NRSC, David Osafo Adonteng, in a presentation, said that in election years- 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, Ghana recorded the highest number of fatalities on its roads.

Director-General of Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD), an agency under the Ghana Police Service responsible for road safety, Adusei Sarpong indicated that in 2012, Ghana recorded about 2,249 deaths related to road crashes.

In that same year, he said, about 2,797 pedestrians were knocked down at various locations across the country.

There was an improvement in the statistics in 2015, with the period recording 1,634 deaths and 2,121 knock downs, he added.

However, in 2016, another election year, he said, the country had already recorded a total of about 1,396 deaths as at the end of August, with 1,850 pedestrians reportedly knocked down so far.

He said that some political parties in the country do not attach importance to road safety, especially during campaigns.

In most cases, he said “order from above” prevents police officers from carrying out their duties to ensure responsible driving.

Projection

NRSC projected that Ghana could record at least 474 more deaths through road crashes from now till the December 7 polls.

Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Ing. Mary Obiri-Yeboah, in a statement, said that “if we can get the parties and their actors to appreciate the core road safety concerns, we will significantly improve road safety.

In 2008, the NRSC instituted the dialogue to help close the gap between politicians, their parties’ operations and road safety during election seasons.

She reported that pedestrians remain the most vulnerable road users in the country since they represent nearly 38 percent of road traffic victims.

She expressed worry about the motorcycle menace, which she said had assumed an alarming trend with crashes involving motorbikes rising to about 400 percent over the last decade.

Representations

The Convention People’s Party (CPP), People’s National Convention (PNC), National Democratic Congress (NDC), Independent People’s Party (IPP) were represented at the forum.

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), All Progressive Congress (APC), National Democratic Party (NDP), among others, were absent.