President Akufo-Addo has directed the Police Service to, as a matter of urgency, come up with innovative and intelligent measures to address road accidents in the country.

Provisional data from the Motor Traffic Transport Department (MTTD) indicates that 469 people died in road crashes between January and February alone.

Describing the situation as worrying, the President at the Kofi Annan Road Safety Awards on Wednesday asked for road crashes to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible.

“We must treat road traffic accident as a global pandemic and assume equally, a more proactive responsible attitude to deal with it.

“Increasingly, the exposure of pedestrians and motorcyclists to the risk of road traffic casualties, particularly in the urban environment, can no longer be overlooked,” the President stated on Wednesday.

On his part, the Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, also called for proactive measures to reduce the carnage.

“As transport professionals and road safety advocates, we must assume a more proactive and responsible attitude to deal with the situation.

“It is important to minimize the dangers on our roads through the creation of road safety culture that reinforces proper behaviour, safer road infrastructure and the use of safer vehicles,” he said.

He further quoted the late Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, “Road traffic crashes do not result from fate or destiny, they are a product of systems and behaviours and thus, must lend themselves to prevention and mitigation.”

In recent years, road crashes have become one too many in the country.

The incident has claimed lots of lives and maimed others, thus, changing the trajectory of their lives.

According to the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD), Greater Accra Region has recorded the highest number of road crashes, with Ashanti Region closely following.