At least 36 persons were killed, and 269 others suffered injuries in 173 road accidents, across the country, during the Easter festivities.
Similarly, 143 accidents involving 28 deaths and 269 injuries were recorded within the same period the previous year.
The recent crashes, recorded from April 15 to 18, 2020, involved 147 private vehicles, 95 commercial vehicles and 66 motorcycles.
The breakdown of the recorded accidents in the police regions are as follows: Accra 83, Tema, 13, Eastern, 26, Central, 9, Central East, six, Western, one, Ashanti, three, Volta, three, Upper West, two, Upper East, one, Bono, four, Bono East, five, Western North, eight, and North East, three.
Other regions, Ahafo, Oti, Savanna and Northern, did not record any accidents.
The Director of the Police Public Affairs Directorate, Chief Superintendent (Chief Supt) Alexander Kweku Obeng, who disclosed these to the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, stated that the deaths involved 29 males and 7 females.
He said the causes of the accidents were speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, wrongful overtaking, and non-compliance with road traffic rules and regulations, which resulted in 37 pedestrian knockdowns.
Chief Supt. Obeng noted road accidents affected the country’s socio-economic development and called on stakeholders to cooperate to address the menace.
He said ensuring road safety was a shared responsibility of all the citizenry and called on the public to support the police to protect lives and properties.
Chief Supt Obeng assured the public of the police’s continuous determination to ensure that the roads were safe for commuters through effective education.
He advised drivers to adhere to road safety regulations to ensure that lives and properties were saved.
Chief Supt Obeng said that the police would not hesitate to arrest and prosecute offending drivers to deter others.
He advised pedestrians to use designated areas when crossing the road to prevent knockdowns.
