By Simon Gali/Freda Mwini, GNA
Wa, (UW/R), March 25, GNA – The Upper West Region has recorded a 17.14 per cent reduction in road crash cases in 2025 as compared to the cases recorded in 2024, the Upper West Regional Directorate of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has revealed.
It said the region recorded a total of 105 crash cases in 2024, which declined to 87 cases in 2025.
Injuries recorded dropped marginally from 127 in 2024 to 123 in 2025, representing a 3.15 per cent reduction, while deaths decreased significantly from 39 in 2024 to 29 in 2025, indicating about a 25 per cent decline.
Mr Abdul-Fatawu Sidik, an Assistant Planning Manager at the Upper West Regional office of the NRSA, who revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa, noted that the reduction in the cases indicated that the strategies they adopted were yielding results.
Mr Sidik indicated that the Authority intensified road safety education and enforcement of the road traffic regulations within the year under review.
He added that the Authority regularly engaged road users at transport terminals, churches, mosques and schools to promote discipline in road use and adherence to road traffic regulations.
He also highlighted pre-departure inspections at transport terminals, where vehicles were checked for roadworthiness, including tyres, lights, seatbelts and first aid kits before embarking on journeys.
Mr Sidik said the Authority was putting in place additional measures to further reduce the road accident cases in the region to the barest minimum in 2016 and beyond.
He indicated that going forward, the Authority had planned to train “road safety champions” at transport terminals to support monitoring and enforcement of regulations.
He emphasised that road crashes were preventable with a change in behaviour in the road use, vehicle condition and improved road conditions.
“What we experience on our roads are no more accidents, but rather crashes. They are things we can avoid, but it is our impatience, our careless, our reckless behaviors that leads us into some of the crashes we report,” Mr Sidik explained.
He identified key challenges, including weak enforcement of road traffic laws and limited funding.
Mr Sidik observed that non-compliance, such as failure to use pedestrian crossings and the use of mobile phones while driving, persisted because “most of our laws are sleeping.”
He advised the public, particularly motorists to be responsible in road use to help avoid preventable road crushes and save the human resources of the country.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/ Christabel Addo