Wa, July 21, GNA - Eighteen people died through 36 road accidents that were recorded in the Upper West Region from January to June.

In all 59 vehicles were involved out of which 15 were motor bikes while the remaining 44 were passenger cars.

Six of the 18 people who were killed lost their lives through motor bike accidents while 17 out of the 36 accident cases that were recorded during the period were fatal.

Deputy Superintendent of Police John Ferguson Dzineku, the Upper West Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), told the He said 13 of them were serious cases with six of them regarded as minor cases.

Comparing the accident statistics to that of January to June 2009, the MTTU Commander said the number of reported cases increased from 20 cases to 36 cases this year.

The number of people who died also increased from 16 in 2009 to 18 in 2010, while the number of vehicles that were involved also shot up from 22 last year to 59 this year.

Injuries resulting from the accidents increased from 22 in 2009 to 68 in 2010 with fatal cases standing at 11 and 17 respectively.

Mr Dzineku said the major causes of the accidents were over speeding and lack of defensive driving.

He said the accident trend for the past six months was not good for the region and advised all drivers to ovoid over speeding and drive defensively.

He said the police would be strict in dealing with drivers who would go contrary to the road traffic rules.