Excessive speed causing road accidents-Study

Kumasi, Nov. 13, GNA - A recent study on vehicular speed on the Accra/Kumasi road has concluded that the excessive vehicular speeds coupled with the wide speed variations explained in part the high incidence of traffic crashes and fatalities on the highway. The study, which was conducted by a team of researchers from the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Washington in USA, showed that over 95 per cent of the 4,163 vehicles whose travelling speeds were measured, travelled above the posted speed limit of 50 kilometre per hour in settlement areas.

According to the research findings, vehicles on average travelled at 87km/hr and variations in speed very wide with a standard deviation of 18km/hr for all classes of vehicles as well as a range of 40 to 187km/hr.

The highest vehicular speed was associated with private cars, which had 97.6 per cent followed by large buses with 93.6 per cent and the least was with the heavy trucks, which had 73.8 per cent.

Mr Noble John Appiah, Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission, revealed these at the opening of a 4-day multi sector-training course on injury and trauma control in Kumasi on Monday. It is being organised by the KNUST and the University of Washington. The course seeks to increase awareness on injury and build capacities on injury research in the country.

Participants are from the judiciary, Attorney Generals Department, FIDA, security agencies, the media, CHRAJ and Road Safety Commission. Mr Appiah said injury cases in Ghana were expected to increase annually on the average by approximately 9 per cent and would involve 10 per cent of the vehicle population in the country while the number of casualties would also increase by 9 per cent.

He said 81 per cent of severely injured patients would die before help came to them or even get to the hospital.

Mr Appiah said an integrated speed monitoring and control programme and the realigning of highways to by-pass small and medium settlements would be required as a long term measure for the reduction of speed related road traffic crashes, fatalities and injuries in Ghana. Professor Tsiri Agbenyega, Dean of School of Medical Sciences (SMS) of KNUST, said road traffic injury was a significant health problem in the country.

He hoped the training course would enable the participants to see how they could mobilise resources to curtail the problem. Professor Charles Mock, Course Director and Professor of the University of Washington, said the project was working in partnership with about 15 universities throughout the world to conduct research on road safety and build capacities on trauma and injury controls in order to reduce fatalities.

He said research on Ghana's road safety had been encouraging and was being incorporated into the project, adding that, injury control was scientific and should be approached in a scientific way as done to other diseases. 13 Nov 06