A GNA Feature by Eric Appah Marfo
Accra, July 12, GNA-Kobby, a university graduate, is in the habit of disregarding the traffic light whenever he uses the road.
Scenario
His mother has advised him against the reckless behaviour and how it can endanger his life one day, but Kobby, in his youthful exuberance ignores the advice.
Growing up, he used to run for his school in athletic competitions and was the fastest runner in the region.
He said to himself: “I am fast enough to outrun and dodge any car or motorcycle I encounter while crossing the road. I simply cannot be bothered!”
On one fateful rainy morning, Kobby left the house to visit a friend. As usual, he carelessly launched into the middle of the road.
Due to the slippery floor caused by the rains, Kobby slipped and fell. The driver of the vehicle had little option and failed to maneuver around the young man.
He therefore run over Kobby and sped off for fear of being lynched. Kobby, lying in a pool of blood, remembered his mother’s advice regarding his reckless use of the road.
His wish was to turn back the hands of time, but it was too late. Kobby breathed his last and gave up on the ghost.
Pedestrians and the road
Pedestrian attitude towards road usage has been a grave concern as it contributes significantly to road crashes in Ghana.
According to the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), negligence and indiscipline of pedestrians affect safety on the roads. One of the dominant road infractions caused by pedestrians is “Jaywalking.”
Jaywalking is the action of walking across a street at a place where it is not allowed or without taking care to avoid the traffic.
It involves crossing a street in an illegal, careless, or unsafe manner and increases the likelihood of a pedestrian being knocked down by an incoming vehicle.
Mr Felix Owusu, Planning Manager, NRSA, Greater Accra Region said ignorance and low levels of education were a concern in terms of pedestrian usage of the road.
He said knowing the rules of the road and observing them will help improve pedestrian safety.
Mr Owusu highlights pedestrian obstruction as another area of concern.
He said the erection of structures in pedestrian walkways, hawkers taking over pedestrian walkways and general trading on pedestrian walkways force pedestrians to compete with vehicles on the road leading to frequent knockdowns.
“Poor lighting on our roads leading to poor visibility at night also hampers pedestrian safety,” he added.
Ghana’s situation
According to data from the NRSA, Ghana experienced a total of 1,008 pedestrian knockdowns between January and May 2023. Out of the figure, 259 people lost their lives.
The data indicates that 28.78 per cent of pedestrians contributed to the total number of fatalities or deaths.
In the Greater Accra Region, 424 pedestrian knockdowns were recorded from January to May 2023, involving 114 deaths.
Also, 57 per cent of pedestrians contributed to the total recorded cases of fatalities or deaths.
Mr Owusu explained that from 2020 to 2022 full year statistics and 2023 (January to May), pedestrian fatalities on average accounted for 28.32 per cent of all national fatalities or deaths whiles for Greater Accra, the figure was at 47.61 per cent.
Unequivocally, it is clear pedestrian knockdowns and fatalities were extremely high in the Greater Region accounting for the high regional fatalities as compared to the other 15 regions.
Mr Owusu attributed the numbers to the concerns raised earlier on in this writeup.
Lapaz in focus
On June 2, 2023, the NRSA in collaboration with Solidarity for Humanity International carried out a pedestrian facility observation and sensitisation exercise at the Lapaz pedestrian crossing in Accra.
During the visit, they observed pedestrians’ disregard for road signals and mostly rely on vehicle traffic lights to cross the road instead of pedestrian traffic lights. This causes confusion between drivers and pedestrians who frequently end up in each other’s space.
Chief Inspector Oppong Kyeremeh and Inspector Benjamin Koranteng, both from the Tesano Divisional Command said jaywalking was the main road infraction observed on the Lapaz Intersection.
They said in such cases, if a driver knocked a pedestrian down, the Law could do little against the driver because it was not his or her fault.
Mr Samuel Boamah Danquah, Senior Manager for Road Safety at Vital Strategies said the speed analysis conducted on the Lapaz Intersection showed that vehicles travelled between 90-120 km/hr on the stretch.
He said besides the high vehicular speed, the catchment area was used by over 200,000 pedestrians within a 12-hour period.
Mr Danquah said the signal timing apportioned for pedestrians to cross the 13-lane cross section of the road was initially 18 seconds which was woefully inadequate.
He said the time was increased to 35 seconds after concerns were raised, however, it was still inadequate.
Mr Danquah called on stakeholders to develop comprehensive solutions to ensure pedestrian safety in the area.
Mrs Pearl Adusu Sateckla, Head of Corporate Affairs, NRSA, observed that pedestrian education is low, as such, plans will be rolled out to strengthen pedestrian education both in the media and through outreach programmes.
She said the Authority would also put together recommendations for relevant road agencies to develop immediate interventions to protect the lives of pedestrians.
Mrs Sateckla said the NRSA would soon visit other busy intersections to engage pedestrians and assess the difficulties being experienced there.
Unfortunately, there was no readily available data from the NRSA specifically for the Lapaz Intersection.
Mr Owusu said mostly, due to the presence of personnel from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service at the Intersection to control traffic, the rate of pedestrian knockdowns is low. The main challenge, however, is the conflict between pedestrians and other vehicles.
He said other sections of the N1 that record frequent pedestrian knockdowns leading to several deaths are the Lapaz Flattop and Apenkwa Overhead.
Proper road engineering
Mr Owusu said inadequate provisions made for pedestrians during road designing including safe crossing points and pedestrian walkways in some cases, influenced pedestrian usage of roads.
However, he said in situations where the infrastructure was even provided, pedestrians failed to use it.
In the case of the Lapaz Intersection, stakeholders and pedestrians have called for the immediate construction of a footbridge to ensure safety of road users.
Others have, however, recommended that road engineers incorporate the construction of an underpass into their designs to allow for the uninterrupted flow of pedestrian movement separate from the vehicle traffic.
Law enforcement
Barack Hussein Obama, Former United States President once said: “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.”
The presence of strong institutions is felt in their ability to exercise their powers through the enforcement of laws.
Relevant road safety institutions such the NRSA, MTTD, amongst others are doing an excellent job and deserve to be commended. In fact, road crash incidents and fatalities have over the years experienced a significant decline—a reflection of the good work being done.
In as much as education of the populace is important in promoting road safety, there are others who are lawless by nature and will not bend to any rule.
During the NRSA’s interaction with pedestrians at Lapaz Crossing, many of them displayed sheer disdain for the exercise with some making disrespectful comments. One pedestrian, when admonished over the wrongful crossing of the road blurted out: “It’s none of your business! It’s my life and if I die, I’ll go alone!!”
Chief Inspector Oppong Kyeremeh alluded to similar reactions from pedestrians when they try cautioning or educating them about the wrongful use of the road.
In the quest to create a safer road and sustain the gains, strict enforcement of road safety regulations and laws is necessary.
The Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, Regulation 154(2) provides that, “a pedestrian who jaywalks or ignores a traffic light signal commits an offence.”
Regulation 154(3) also states that “pedestrians who fail to use footbridge or an underpass commits an offence.”
These and many other regulations together with the appropriate sanctions should be enforced to create sanity on the roads.
GNA