Mr Tonny Dickson Afriford, a Road Crash and Injury Prevention Analyst has revealed that there was human and vehicular conflict within the Tema Metropolis and Ashaiman Municipality which sometimes results in fatalities.
He noted that the Tema Region does not record many head-on collision or vehicle to vehicle crashes; “in the Tema region, the high rate of fatalities is due to pedestrian knock down because of human to vehicle conflict”.
Speaking on the Ghana News Agency- Tema Office and Motor Transport and Traffic Department accident prevention platform, Mr Afriford explained that humans and vehicles run into each other due to lack of respect for pedestrian walkways.
Mr Afriford noted that this was due to the lack of infrastructure to make the road safe for pedestrians use; “most drivers disregard zebra crossing, we fail to recognize demarcated places as school and hospital zones, where drivers are to reduce or limit their speed”.
The Road Crash and Injury Prevention Analyst identified speeding, tiredness, drunk driving and illegal construction of speed ramps as the major causes of road crashes in the Tema region.
He disclosed that about 388 private vehicles were involved in road crashes in the Tema Region between January and May, 2021, the 388 were part of the total number of vehicles that were involved in 545 reported road crashes in the Tema enclave during the period under review.
Mr Afriford stated that 27 persons have been killed while 312 got injured from commercial vehicles road crashes in Tema Region, during the period under review.
The GNA-Tema and MTTD Road Safety Project seeks to create consistent and systematic weekly awareness advocacy on the need to be cautious on the road as a user, educate all road users on their respective responsibilities, and sensitize drivers especially on road safety regulations, rules and laws.
