Road crashes in the Ashanti Region reduced by 19 per cent during the Christmas and New Year festivities.

The region recorded 46 accident cases between December 24 and January 1, compared with 65 recorded in the same period in 2019.

The period also saw a decline in the number of persons killed from 16 to 5.

However, the number of people killed in 2020 shot up.

"You could see that this period too, we also had very good records compared to last year," says Ashanti Regional MTTD Commander, Superintendent Emmanuel Adu Boahen has said.

Christmas and New Year festivities are often noted for reckless driving.

But the season recorded a decline in accident cases in the Ashanti region.

The Police Motor, Traffic and Transport Department attributes the decline to increased police visibility on the roads, increased road traffic education and enforcement of road traffic regulations.

"The total number of cases in 2019 for 31st and 1st was 23. This year, we recorded 16. The total number of vehicles involved in those crashes last in 2019 was 39. In 2020 recorded 28.

"The total number of persons killed in 2019 on December 31, and January 1 were six and this year only one person died," the Ashanti Regional MTTD Commander, Supt. Emmanuel Adu Boahen revealed.

Ashanti Regional MTTD Commander, Superintendent Emmanuel Adu-Boahen is happy at the trend.

He said the effective monitoring, enforcement of road traffic regulations and support the police received from the media, especially The Multimedia Group paid off.

"I can say that the public awareness of road safety has increased comparatively so publicity has been very, very influential in this aspect. While you give us the opportunity, we also sensitise.

"The education this year was structured in a such a way that we even started from the lorry parks, mosques and visited some fan club members.

"Strategically, we looked at accident-prone areas or the hotspots and deployed men to those areas to make sure that certain things that we considered them as risk factors would be curtailed. They are drink-driving, speeding and reckless driving, among others."

But despite the successes chalked, the region saw 572 persons killed in road crashes throughout 2020.

The figure represents a 26 per cent increase of the 455 cases recorded in 2019.