#GhanaWebRoadSafety: Damaged highway guard rails on N1 posing threat to drivers, pedestrians

Highways are usually characterized by guard rails for both pedestrians and drivers or motorists. This not only protects vehicles from running into obstructive objects or other vehicles in the events of accidents but helps avert the severity of accidents when the driver loses control.

In Ghana, these guard rails line up most of the city’s highways and busy roads but sadly, these safety features have been left in the most deplorable state.

GhanaWeb’s Amos Ekow Coffie set out on a tour to find out the state of most of these guard rails, as part of GhanaWeb’s Road Safety Campaign series.

He among other things noticed how badly these metal rails have been destroyed, and in most cases, are now posing threats rather than averting them.

Some drivers noted that the guard rails have been destroyed over a long period but authorities appear rather nonchalant about the situation.

In fact, for the pedestrians, guard rails that are to serve the purpose of protecting them from the direct impact of cars have now become useless.

“The guard rail is rather causing accidents now because they have been damaged for some time now and no one seems to care about it, now you can see how the metal is showing its teeth, if a new driver doesn’t know that this is where he or she could bump into it while driving and that can cause another, we need the authorities to fix them now because it is a threat to us as drivers,” one driver said.

They want the government to be proactive and to work towards replacing these damaged guard rails, to avert the situation.


Watch the full interview below



The GhanaWeb Road Safety Campaign forms a part of the numerous projects GhanaWeb has rolled out as part of its 22nd-anniversary celebrations.

The year-long campaign dubbed #GhanaWebRoadSafety took off on Monday, March 1, 2021, and will focus on three key areas: indiscipline on roads; bad roads, and potholes that contribute to road accidents and the absence of streetlights.

The campaign is being executed in partnership with major stakeholders including the Ghana Road Safety Commission, the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate of the Ghana Police Service, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Ghana Fire Service, and the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority.

The campaign is also spearheaded by musician and politician Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour) as the Ambassador.

Join in the conversation by sharing your videos about indiscipline, bad roads and accidents on all our social media platforms; Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at @TheGhanaWeb and to our Whatsapp number: 0552699625.