The Director of Education, Research and Training at the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Alexander Kwaku Obeng, says the implementation of the country’s new road traffic regulations is expected to significantly reduce road crashes.

According to him, the new regulatory framework forms part of Ghana’s broader commitment to road safety and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the ultimate objective of achieving a substantial reduction in road crashes.

Speaking with David Akuetteh on LUV FM on September 17, ACP Obeng said Ghana’s existing road safety targets seek to achieve an annual reduction of about five percent in road crashes, but the new measures could help accelerate progress towards a much larger reduction.

He said the broader target under the SDGs was to achieve a 50 percent reduction in road crashes from the 2021 baseline.

“What the UN imposed on us as the guiding target within the SDGs is that, by the end of the period, we should reduce road crashes by 50% from the 2021 baseline,” he said.

ACP Obeng said Ghana’s own system had been structured to achieve a five per cent reduction in road crashes every year. “If we are not, with our system that we have rolled out, we want to see every year a 5% reduction,” he said.

He also identified speeding as a major problem contributing to road crashes and said measures had therefore been deployed to address the issue.

“Speeding is a major problem for us, and it's a scar on our conscience. Therefore, we have deployed this,” he said.

ACP Obeng said the combination of the new measures, improvements in road infrastructure, and enhanced police enforcement could result in a reduction in crashes beyond the five percent annual target.