Everyday, someone in Ghana and other developing countries is killed in a car accident. In effect, thousands of people die in motor vehicle accident, car accident, motorcycle; pedestrians struck and killed every year.
Ghanareporter.com
For example in 2015, a pregnant woman returning from her routine hospital check-up, crossing the street while holding her child’s hand, were struck and killed including her unborn child. The rate of accident fatalities is alarming and unacceptable. There are many causes of deadly accidents including drunk driving, over speeding cars and vehicles and some which are not road worthy, drivers who are unqualified, unlicensed or with fake licenses and blind drivers (there is no emphasis on vision check-up, therefore some of these drivers have no idea they are severely vision impaired), disabled vehicles not being towed away all lead to serious accidents. Most of the accidents involve overturned vehicles, public buses, cars, and motorcycles, all resulting in many people prematurely losing their lives. Some of these accidents involve head-on collisions, overturned vehicles, buses, cars and collisions with disabled vehicles abandoned on the roads.
Metro-bus accident with head on collision resulting in multiple fatalities. Ghanaweb/2015
It is the goal of African Neighborhoods and Medical Missions, Inc., USA, and Good Samaritan Medical and Rehabilitation Missions, a subsidiary in Ghana to educate the public and drivers to drive safely. Some of the initiates that have been taken or in the future include making it mandatory to have annual eye examination for every driver, “if you drive don’t drink and if you drink don’t drive”, ensuring pedestrians have the right of way, decrease speed limits in towns and cities, on the roads and highways. In addition, it should be mandatory vehicle check for road worthiness annually. Below is an article that reiterates the frequency and the unnecessary loss of human lives from car accidents. The yearly number of death for example in Ghana in the article below may be an underestimation, since no accurate tracking of the number of people who die daily or yearly are well documented.
Buzzghana.com
ACCRA, Ghana — A head-on collision between a passenger bus and a truck in central Ghana killed dozens of people in the deadliest road accident in recent memory, officials and witnesses said Thursday. There were conflicting reports of the death toll. Bismark Owusu Fosu, medical director at Kintampo hospital, told the Reuters news agency that 71 people were killed. Ghana’s National Road Safety Commission reported that more than 1,600 people were killed in road accidents last year.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ghana-bus-truck-deadly-road-accident/
Last Updated Feb 18, 2016 3:06 PM EST