29 dead, 82 injured in road crashes in Upper East

No fewer than 29 people have perished and as many as 82 persons got injured in 99 road crashes involving 165 vehicles in the Upper East region between January and June this year, Starr News has learnt.

A breakdown of some statistics sourced by Starr News from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) shows the region recorded 15 deaths with 54 persons mutilated in 58 auto crashes involving 97 vehicles in the first quarter of the year. The second quarter- between April and June- ended with 68 vehicles involved in 41 crashes that claimed 14 lives and maimed 28 people.

Although there is a decline in the disturbing figures as shown in the last quarter, the commission says the trend calls for worry as the victims generally have been the “economically active residents in the prime of their lives”. Road safety experts say “excessive speeding” and “reckless attitude” resulted in most of the road traffic tragedies in a region hit every year by an average 65 deaths on the road.

“Bolgatanga always has the [highest figure] every quarter in terms of casualty because it is the most urbanised place in the region. The Bolgatanga we knew five years back is not the same Bolgatanga today. So, if you are maintaining the same road culture we used five years back now, you are only going to experience crashes- because now there are more cars and even more motorbikes. Now, if the traffic goes red, before one minute, you would see a long queue of vehicles.



“Five years back, it wasn’t like that. So, if you are maintaining the same attitude- you’re jumping traffic light, you are [speeding], it would end up in crashes, and that’s what we are getting now. Excessive speeding and reckless attitude (disregard for road traffic provisions and other road users) are the underpinning factors which are causing the crashes in the region,” the Upper East Regional Planning Officer of the NRSC, Dennis Yeribu, told Starr News.