The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has stated that there has been a 14.8 percent increase in the number of deaths from road crashes this year, compared to the first three months of 2020.

“Road traffic crashes over the period from January to March this year, have generally been higher than the same period last year. This year, the number of crashes we have recorded in this quarter is 4,009 and in the same period last year, it was 3,494. So there has been an increase of about 14.8%.”

According to the Authority, “this increase is worrying especially because last year it partnered with a lot of media houses to push the Arrive Alive campaign to try and sensitize road users on the need to use the roads carefully. So we expected that the message would have been received, and we would see a decrease in the number of accidents,” the Head of the National Road Safety Authority, May Obiri Yeboah told Citi News.

She added that there has also been an increase in the number of vehicles involved in crashes and the number of people who have been injured this year, compared to the same period last year.

“Also this year, 6,830 vehicles have been involved in crashes as compared to 5,875 last year, which is an increase of about 16.3%. 771 persons have died through road accidents this month as compared to 595 people during the same period last year; an increase of 29.6%. Of the 771 people who died this year, 341 of them died through motorcycle accidents. 4,200 people have been injured this year while 3,799 people were injured during the same period last year; an increase of 10.56%. 724 were knocked down by vehicles this year, compared to 623 people last year.”

Ing. Obiri Yeboah added that because more people have died from motorcycle crashes, the Authority is taking the time to educate motorists on road safety.

She further stated that “road safety is multi-sectorial, so all sectors need to work together and all road users need to be disciplined in order to help decrease the number of road crashes and accidents.”