Takoradi, Jan 13, GNA - A total of 567 road accidents claiming 92 lives were recorded in the Western Region in 2006 as against 328 with 88 deaths the previous year.

According to Mr. Thomas Bismarck Boakye, Regional Coordinator of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), this showed an improvement in the efforts to curb accidents in view of the steady increase in the number of vehicles in the region.

Briefing the media in Takoradi at the weekend, he said the NRSC, the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service and other stakeholders had taken measures to bring accidents in the region to the barest minimum.

He said the 2006 records involved 768, adding that, 64 of the accidents were classified as fatal while 163 were described as serious cases.

The Regional Coordinator said activities including community education on the right use of the road by pedestrians, particularly children dubbed "Pedestrian Walk Show" and the active involvement of the NRSC in checking over speeding had been planned for this year. Public education would also be organised for road users including bicycle and motorcycle riders, he said.

Mr. Boakye said the enforcement of road traffic laws and regulations would also be a major assignment in the region to bring sanity on the roads, adding that, a telephone hotline would be opened for the public to report drivers who flouted them thereby causing accidents.

He called on traders in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis who had taken over pedestrians' walkways to desist from the practice. Mr. Boakye said an African Road Safety Conference would be held in Ghana this year to discuss effective ways of ensuring road safety and commended the media for their involvement in road safety education in the region.