A member of the Public Accountability Committee of the Ghana Institute of Engineers, Ing. Dr Charles Kwarteng Asafo-Adjei, has warned that Ghana’s road safety conditions are approaching a level at which the country’s roads could be considered unsafe for human use.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, August 27, Dr Asafo-Adjei said the Institute’s latest infrastructure scorecard rated road safety E2, placing the country close to the lowest performance category.

“Road safety was graded E2. It means we are at the next stage where, virtually, our roads may be declared unsafe for human use,” he said.

He explained that the assessment covered eight infrastructure sectors and primarily examined data from 2017 to 2024, with provisional figures provided for 2025.

According to him, the Ghana Institute of Engineers introduced the infrastructure scorecard in 2016, initially assessing three sectors before expanding the exercise to eight.

Dr Asafo-Adjei said Ghana’s heavy reliance on road transport made the deteriorating safety conditions particularly worrying, as approximately 90 per cent of passengers and freight were transported by road.

“Our mode of transport in Ghana is basically road, and anything that affects roads and bridges affects road users,” he said.

He explained that poorly maintained roads contributed to congestion, travel delays, excessive fuel consumption and crashes, which placed additional pressure on households, businesses and healthcare facilities.

Dr Asafo-Adjei warned that expanding the road network alone would not resolve the problem because the number of vehicles and demand for transport were growing faster than the supply of infrastructure.

“We may be expanding the infrastructure, but the rate at which vehicles are growing means that demand is growing faster than supply,” he stated.

He called for stronger enforcement, sustained public education, regular road maintenance and measures to regulate the movement of vehicles and motorcycles in critical areas.

Dr Asafo-Adjei also urged policymakers to treat the country’s deteriorating road safety conditions as a national emergency, stressing that the issue was about protecting lives rather than merely expanding infrastructure.