A new road safety report has revealed majority of deaths from road crashes in Accra occur during weekends and at night.

The 2021 Accra Road Safety study conducted by Vital Strategies with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies showed deaths from road traffic crashes in Accra were higher during weekends (Saturdays and Sundays).

The study also revealed that the total number of reported road traffic crashes in Accra rose from 1,774 in 2020 to 1,808 in 2021 – a 2% increase. However, road traffic deaths declined from 136 in 2020 to 123 in 2021-a 10% decrease.

In total, 361 deaths were recorded between 2019 and 2021 as a result of road traffic crashes.

The group cited speeding, drink-driving, lack of helmet, seatbelt and child restraint use as the major factors influencing the rise in the number of road traffic crashes in the capital.

The report focused on the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and provided information on injuries and deaths from road traffic crashes in the area.

Death among vulnerable road users –pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists- accounted for 80% of road fatalities in 2021.  The study estimated.

The study also revealed that the number of road traffic fatalities were 2.7 times higher than official police reported figures. This is because some victims die after police have assessed the accident scene. Hospital records on road crash victims were matched to police crash records for the same period to obtain a more reliable fatality estimate.

On the national scale, there was an overall decrease in both the total number of deaths and crashes between 2021 to 2022. The total number of deaths decreased by 20.10% from 2,970 in 2021 to 2,373 in 2022. 

The number of crashes recorded were 16,182 in 2021 and 14,960 in 2022 representing a 7.55% fall.