Motorcycles kill 811 out of 1,985 fatalities in 10 months

Data compiled by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service shows that 811 motorcyclists and their pillion riders were killed between January and October 2022.

1,985 killed in 10 months

This represents 41% of the 1,985 commuters killed during the 10 months period.

Motorcycles constitute 21% of all crashes

Analysis on categories of Vehicles Involved in crashes shows that motorcycles comprising two and three wheelers constituted the least 21% of all vehicles involved.

This notwithstanding, the share of motorcycle crashes is alarming taking into consideration the population of motorcycles made up of two and three wheelers of the total vehicle population.

Breakdown of Motorcycles

Two wheeler motorbikes constituted 75% of crashes involving all cycles whilst tricycles contributed 20%, bicycles and handcarts constituted 3% and 2% respectively.

The data shows a decreasing trend in the number of motorcycles involved in crashes, with a reduction by three motorcycles every month within the 10-month period in 2022.

4,551 motorcycles crashed

Some 4,551 motorcycles were involved in crashes

18.18% decline in deaths

The number of persons killed from January to October 2022 reduced by 18.18 per cent to 1,985 as opposed to January to October, 2021.

Commercial Vehicles kill 688

Commercial Vehicles recorded 688 deaths during the ten months period.

Private vehicles kill 486

According to the data, private vehicles claimed the lives of 486 commuters between January and October 2022.

557 Pedestrians killed

A total of 557 Pedestrians also lost their lives during the period

A total of 2,210 pedestrians were knocked down whiles walking along/crossing the road from January to October, 2022.   .

This represents a decrease of 10.31% over the situation for the same period in 2021 (2,464 knockdowns)

Motorcyclists and pillion riders more exposed to road traffic deaths

This implies that motorcyclists and their pillion riders are more exposed to road traffic deaths than other road user groups like commercial passengers, private vehicle occupants and pedestrians.

1,564 males, 421 females killed

It also indicates that 1,564 representing 79% of those killed are males and 421 (21%) females were killed from January to October 2022.

The data reveals a ratio of 1:4. Thus, for every one female killed, four males are killed.

This shows a similar trend to past years of higher fatalities for males than for females

273 below the age of 18 killed

A total of 273 people representing 14% persons killed were below the age of 18 years whilst 1,712 (86%) were reported to have been adults (above 18years).

This indicates that for every six adults above 18-years killed; a child below 18-years is killed revealing a relatively high road traffic death ratio of 6:1 for adults than for children within the period.

This is partly due to the high risk of exposure of adults to traffic incidences as compared to children.

Private vehicles constitute 45% of total vehicles involved in crashes

Per the data, private vehicles constituted the largest proportion of vehicles involved in crashes from January to October 2022, representing 45%, followed by Commercial Vehicles with 34% and Motorcycles with the least proportion of 21%.

Reduction in crashes of all vehicle types

The proportions of all the vehicle types involved in crashes for commercial vehicles, private vehicles and motorcycles decreased by 8.98%, 0.75% and 11.03% respectively when compared to the same period last year (2021).

7,307 Commercial vehicles

From January to October, 2022, a total of 7,307 commercial vehicles were involved in crashes.

However, the number of private vehicles involved in crashes was 9,735 which is 24.94% higher than that of the commercial vehicles involved.

Peak month for fatalities

In 2022, the peak month for fatalities was March with 265 deaths as compared to 273 deaths in February for 2021.

In terms of months with the least number of fatalities, July recorded the least with 143 deaths as against 185 deaths in August 2021.

27.6% decrease in fatalities in respect of monthly trend

It is worth noting that the monthly trend in fatalities shows a significant margin of decrease (27.60%) for the month of October 2022 as compared to October 2021

Significant reduction in injuries

The trend for 2021 shows a significant reduction in injuries as compared to that of 2022.

13,109 people sustained various degrees of injuries.

There was a 0.33 per cent decrease in the number of persons injured through road crashes from January to October 2022, over the same period in 2021.

The trend line for 2021 also displays a slight decrease in Crashes. Whilst April recorded the highest number of crashes (1,467) in 2021,

February had the highest number of crashes of 1,354 for 2022.

On the other hand, the lowest number of crashes were recorded in August (1,074) and July (1,182) for 2021 and 2022 respectively.

12,565 road traffic crashes reported

A total of 12,565 road traffic crashes were reported from January to October 2022.

21,593 vehicles crashed

These crashes involved 21,593 vehicles of all categories (Private, Commercial, Motorbikes/cycles, etc.), and 15,094 casualties (1,985 fatalities/deaths and 13,109 injuries).

The number of commercial vehicles involved in road crashes from January to October 2022 also reduced by some 8.98 per cent in comparison to last year.

Regional distribution of fatalities

Regional distribution of fatalities are Greater- 429, Ashanti-377, Eastern-375, Central-163, Bono East-82, Western-80, Western North-75, Volta-73, Bono-62, Ahafo-60, Northern-58, Savannah-40, Upper West-36, Upper East-34, Oti-21 and North East-20.

Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern regions were the top three regions to record the highest number of crashes from January to October this year.

Greater Accra experienced 4,618 crashes; Ashanti region recorded 2,886 crashes, whilst Eastern region had 1,288 crashes.

Upper West and Savanna (joint figure); North East and Oti regions recorded the three lowest numbers of crashes.

The Upper West and Savanna regions both had 82 crashes; the North-East Region recorded 48 incidents and Oti experienced 43 crashes.

Savannah, Northern, North East, Central and Eastern Regions recorded increases in Crashes by 57.69%, 14.81%, 9.09%, 5.68% and 1.74% respectively for the period January to October 2022 compared to the same period of 2021.

The remaining regions recorded decreases over the same period.

Upper West Region had the highest percentage decrease with 44.59% whilst Savannah recorded the highest percentage increase of 57.69%.