Three hundred and twenty-eight people died last year through motor accidents in the Eastern Region.
The figure is an increase of 73 over the 245 deaths recorded in 2008.
In an interview in Koforidua at the weekend, the Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Police, Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, attributed most of the accidents to human error on the part of drivers.
Giving details of the accidents, he said in 2009, 1,489 accidents, involving 1,927 vehicles, occurred in the region, from which 328 people died, while 2,296 got injured, 473 of them seriously, as against the 1,162 accidents, involving 1,642 vehicles, recorded in 2008, during which 245 people perished and 1,465 got injured.
According to Supt Peprah, most of the accidents occurred in the night on the Suhum-Bunso-Nkawkaw stretch of the Accra-Kumasi highway and said driver fatigue accounted for most of them.
He explained that normally drivers had to rest for at least 30 minutes after driving continuously for four hours and that most of the accidents on the Suhum-Bunso-Nkawkaw stretch involved drivers who had driven for more than four hours from the north and countries on Ghana’s northern corridor without resting.
“They drive all the way from Burkina Faso, Tamale, Bawku or Wa to Accra or Tema, spending more than four hours behind the wheel, to cover a distance of about 300 kilometres to reach the stretch, but they do not rest. These tired and dozing drivers mostly drive into stationary vehicles along the road,” Supt Peprah stated.
He expressed the hope that the introduction of log books in long distance vehicles to enable the police to know the distance covered and the hours spent by the drivers would help reduce accidents.
He also stated that this year the police in the region would use alcohol censors to check alcohol content in drivers at the loading pads before their vehicles took off and also at intersections to ensure that no driver was drunk behind the wheel.
The police would also vigorously enforce the use of seat belts, he indicated.
The Regional MTTU Commander further stated that since mechanical faults also accounted for motor accidents, his unit would intensify public education and operation on the issue to ensure that only road-worthy vehicles operated in the region.
He called on motorists, travellers and transport owners to co-operate with the police to ensure sanity on the road.
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