The Accra Metropolitan Assembly, AMA, has launched its road safety campaign ahead of the festive season.
The campaign dubbed the ‘AMA Road Safety Mass Media Campaign’ is to ensure an accident-free Christmas.
As part of the campaign, the Assembly would embark on a mass media campaign and an enforcement drive on speeding in the coming weeks to help reduce speeding above the posted limit in Accra.
Speaking to Citi News, Chief Sustainability Resilience Officer and City lead for the AMA and the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety, Desmond Appiah stated that the Christmas period is noted for an increase in road crashes, an occurrence the Assembly is hoping to reduce significantly with the launch of its road safety campaign
“The data we have collected over the period has shown that speeding has gone up in our metropolis. About 75% of all the surveys that were done showed that people were speeding. Speeding does not necessarily mean that someone is driving at a 100 or 200 or so, but it means that you are driving above the posted speed limit. So, if the posted limit is 30 and you are doing 35 – 40, you are speeding,” he said.
“So, we have recognised that speeding has gone up and is a major risk factor. That is why we are launching a mass media campaign targeting speeding and its consequences. Our last reports and analysis also show that motorbikes have currently overtaken the four-wheel drives as those who speed,” he added.
Mr. Appiah also cautioned drivers against reckless driving in the capital, as the festive season approaches and stressed that the economic and social consequences of road deaths, the costs of treatment and rehabilitation for severely injured casualties, should be a major concern for city administrators, road safety agencies and health professionals.
AMA Road Safety Report
According to the AMA’s road safety report, 75% of vehicles in the city tend to drive above the prescribed speed limit, while motorcycle riders also over-speed, a situation which is a major cause of road crashes.
Last month the AMA launched its second AMA Road Safety Report in Accra in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS).
Findings from the Report which covered the period 2016-2018, revealed that, the number of reported road traffic crashes in Accra increased from 1,697 in 2016 to 1,812 in 2018 with serious injuries and deaths also increasing by 89 per cent and 51 per cent from 2017 to 2018 respectively.
It also showed that the proportion of vehicles speeding above the posted limit in the Accra Metropolitan area has increased from 68% in 2018 to 77% as of April 2019 resulting in a rise of road traffic crashes
The report further analysed data from 2016 to 2018, which was derived from police crash reports and hospital records, together with observational studies on road injury risk factors. It indicated that a higher proportion of motorcycles were also observed speeding relative to other vehicle types (86%) in the most recent round followed by sports utility vehicles (SUVs) (83%) and saloons at (78%).
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