The Ashanti Region is the most dangerous place to drive in Ghana, according to crash statistics revealed by the Eastern regional director of the Ghana Road Safety Commission.
Mr Kwasi Yirenkyi told Class News’ Eastern regional correspondent McAnthony Dagyenga in an interview that the Ashanti Region tops the league table of accidents with 20.7%.
It is followed by the Greater Accra, 17.4%; and Eastern, 16.1 per cent.
Mr Yirenkyi has, therefore, urged road users in his area, to always be on the alert, since the Eastern region ranks among the top three most dangerous places to drive in the country.
According to him, even though the region was performing better in reducing fatalities on the roads, the number of crashes and deaths were still worrying.
“If you look at the data on how we performed from 2014 to 2015, we did a lot better than 2014, so the performance was good, but if you look at the number of people, who died in 2015 and compare it to the population of the Eastern region in 2015, then it is not good because if 229 people died on our roads and then 271 were knocked down, I wouldn’t call that a good situation….with 229 deaths we have a lot of work to do, we must bring down this figure drastically,” he said.
Mr Yirenkyi said his outfit would intensify education at East Akyem and Birim Central municipalities because the two areas have consistently been epicentres of road carnage. He put the situation down to lack of training on the part of drivers, who belong to unions.
“It is the responsibility of the unions to make sure that their members are trained in the basic principles of road safety.
“If you are formally trained and I am formally trained, we shall all, equally apply the common understanding that we have while driving and that is the only thing that can [help reduce carnage on our roads],” he said.
