Wa, Oct. 8, GNA - Deaths from motor accidents in the Wa Municipality shot up to 32 from January to September this year against 25 during the same period last year.

The number of reported accident cases increased from 33 to 48, while the number of vehicles involved also increased from 45 last year to 79, this year, with injuries rising from 33 to 89. Fatalities also jumped up from 18 cases in 2009 to 26 cases for the period while serious cases tripled from three to 15 with minor cases reducing from 12 to seven, respectively.

The Outgoing Upper West Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP) John Ferguson Dzineku, presented these accident statistics to the Ghana News Agency, (GNA) in Wa on Friday. The MTTU Commander said 29 persons had been prosecuted so far for committing various road traffic offences and a total amount of GH¢4,500 were realized as court fines from January to September 2010. DSP Dzineku attributed the increase in motor accident cases to the rise in vehicular population as a result of the fast growing rate of the Municipality and the number of strangers, especially the students of the Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) in the town. He added that the increase was also as a result of the intensive public education carried out by the Police on the need to report all accident cases, including those involving individuals to the police. "People used to report accident cases to the police only when they were personally affected but now because of the intensive public education even individuals in accident cases are now being reported to the police," he noted.

He said Police's road safety education in Primary and Junior High Schools (JHS) had now been extended to cover Senior High Schools (SHS), the University Campus and the Polytechnic.

DSP Dzineku said the Regional Police Commander was recently at the UDS's matriculation ceremony to educate the students on how to ride safely on the road.

He mentioned the lack of alcohol sensor and speed gun as the challenges confronting the police in their quest to monitor the speed of drivers and drunkenness to prevent accidents and ensure safety on the roads.