ACCRA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 592 people died in 3,193 road accidents across Ghana in the first quarter of 2018, according to data released here on Tuesday.
The latest figures, from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, represent an 11.7 percent rise over the 530 who died in the same period in 2017.
In addition, 3,343 persons suffered injuries, while 792 pedestrian knock-downs were recorded during the crashes over the same period.
May Obiri Yeboah, a senior official of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), has blamed human errors for about 90 percent of road accidents that occur in the country.
"The accidents are caused by indiscipline on our roads; over 90 percent of the accidents are caused by human errors. Most of the drivers engage in speeding, wrong overtaking and overloading," said Yeboah, executive secretary of the NRSC, an institution mandated to play a lead role in championing, promoting and coordinating road safety activities in Ghana.
Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo has granted an executive approval for the immediate implementation of an action plan to help curb road crashes in the country.
As part of the plan, the NRSC would be resourced to scale up its public education and sensitization on road safety while road traffic laws would be enforced by the police through spot fines by automation of MTTD operations.
The decision comes 24 hours after 27 persons lost their lives over the weekend in separate road accidents in various parts of the country.
