Ghana
Road Safety in GhanaProjects |
Facts
Roads Safety Situation
The number of motor vehicles in Ghana is increasing rapidly and, coupled with population growth, is contributing to a rise in the number of road traffic injuries and fatalities. Road safety has become a major national issue receiving front-page coverage in the press and National TV news on a regular basis. Fortunately, the government and donor community have reacted quickly and increased funding to the NRSC, enabling the NRSC to expand and implement new targeted road safety initiatives. The Danish International Development Assistance, Danida, has been a primary supporter of government road safety activities in Ghana.
Road crashes kill an average of four persons daily in Ghana. In 2005, the latest year for which statistics are available, the number of road crashes increased by 16% relative to 2004. The regions Ashanti, Eastern, Gt. Accra, Central and Brong Ahafo Regions account for more than 70% of the total number of crash fatalities. Some 70% of crashes occur on flat and straight roads. Speeding is a major cause of crashes, accounting for over 50% of reported crashes. Buses and mini-buses cause 35% of fatal crashes while cars are responsible for 32%.
Road users between 16-45 years are the most vulnerable group and account for 58% of total road crash fatalities from 2002-2005. 70% of persons killed in road crashes are males. The age groups from 0-5, 46-65 and over 65 years also accounted for a 20.8%, 16.7% and 4.6% respectively of the total fatalities during the same period.
Pedestrians continue to be the most vulnerable road user group, accounting for more than 40% of the annual road crash fatalities. 21% of pedestrians killed annually are children below the age of 16 years of age. This was followed by occupants of buses/Mini buses, cars and HGV also recording 23%, 12% and 10% respectively.
Although fatality numbers are growing, crash risk has remained stable over the past six years. The statistics should be viewed with caution as the quality of the national data is affected by under-reporting (including both non-reporting, because not all crashes are reported, and under-recording arising from incomplete retrieval of reported crashes from police files). Whereas the actual degree of under-reporting is not currently known, the level of under-recording of the data has been reviewed and generally improved over the years.
Data management systems are improving as IT systems become more widely available and this will have an impact on the crash reduction programme from better informed safety programmes.
Road safety coordination and stakeholders
In the past, road safety activities were carried out by individual departments within the Ministry of Roads and Transport: Ghana Highways Authority, Department of Urban Roads, Department of Feeder Roads, Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority, together with the National Road Safety Committee. In 2000, the Committee became a Commission by act of Parliament and the Commission coordinate safety activities within Ghana.
The Government of Ghana, acting through the Ministry of Transport and Communications, established the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to develop, promote and coordinate the National Road Safety Strategy.
The National Road Safety Strategy provided the NRSC with guidelines for its work in the 5-year period 2001-05.The purpose of the strategy was to break the upward trend in crashes, injuries and fatalities and create a basis for concrete, sustainable crash reduction by 2010. The overall target was a 5% reduction in road fatalities from 1998 as the base year to 2005 and a further 15% reduction before the end of 2010. A new 5-year strategy is currently being prepared.
The NRSC has identified seven major public road safety stakeholders who will be the mainstays for the implementation of the strategy. These are:
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The National Road Safety Commission and its Secretariat (NRSC);
- The Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI);
- The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA);
- The Motor Transport and Traffic Unit - the traffic police (MTTU);
- The Ghana Highways Authority (GHA);
- The Department of Urban Roads (DUR);
- The Department of Feeder Roads (DFR).
Six major road safety problems have been selected as focus areas for the strategy:
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Accident black spots in urban areas and villages;
- Pedestrians;
- Children;
- Professional drivers;
- Speeding;
- Drunken driving;
The NRSC has also identified other stakeholders from the public and the private sectors who can contribute to improving road safety. Among these are the Transport Coordinating Council and the oil marketing companies. Private companies have in the past provided funding for road safety campaigns and road safety education programmes for school children. Shell and Exxon have successfully demonstrated that road safety training for drivers can contribute to reduced crash costs for the companies.
Ghana established a Road Fund in 1997. The monies for the Fund are derived from levies on fuel, tolls andvehicle licenses. They are managed by a Board consisting of 13 members, the majority of whom are from the private sector. The Fund can be used for road safety activities and there is tentative agreement to make 900 million (approximately US$ 150,000 at year 2000 exchange rates) available for road safety provide a reasonable action plan is submitted. Up-to-date road crash cost figures are not available for Ghana but using 1% of GNP as a typical minimum estimate gives a figure of $72.6 million per annum.
GRSP in Ghana
Since its registration as an NGO, the organisation has grown from a core management team to include a technical group and an executive board. The Executive is responsible for general management issues, including partnership development and funding, and is composed of a Chairperson, Finance Director and Executive Secretary. The Technical Group conducts the road safety activities and is led by a Technical Director and team. Since the formation of the Technical Group under Mr Justice Amegashie, the number and quality of activities have grown rapidly.
In 2006, GRSP Ghana were also able to secure the services of Mr Kwasi Abbey Sam (Former Chief Director of the Ministry of Roads and Transport) as their new Chairman.
Partnerships have been developed with numerous organisations and agencies from the public, private and non-governmental sectors.
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Projects
Road Systems Management
Speed study (completed)
An independent urban speed study was conducted by GRSP Ghana in November 2006. The results indicate that drivers are exceeding posted limits (50kph) by as much as 50kph and that vulnerable road users are at extreme risk of severe injuries from high urban speeds. The report, presented to the NRSC, made a series of recommendations, including more rigorous enforcement of speed limits in urban areas.
Project summary: Speed study Accra, Ghana
Pre-hospital care (ongoing)
GRSP Ghana helped organise a seminar on trauma care at Akosumbo (Volta lake) in June 2005. The Deputy Minister for Roads and Transport attended. The seminar has increased the awareness of urgent medical attention for road crash victims and will lead to both legislation and resources to improve victim care.
In follow-up to the seminar, GRSP Ghana collaborated on the publication of the report "Strengthening Care for Injury Victims" – Recommendations for a National Policy. Support from the Ministry of Health is being sought to bring the recommendations into general practice.
In late 2006 GRSP cooperated with emergency medical services to develop a National Resuscitation Council. The Council aims to identify international good practice methods that will improve the effectiveness of services rendered at the crash scene and prevent overlap when treating victims. Members of the Council currently include representatives of Ghana Ambulance Service, the Ministry of Health, the Police Hospital, teaching hospitals, the Fire Services, the Ghana Red Cross and St John Ambulance.
GRSP Ghana held a First Aid workshop focusing specifically on treating road crash victims. Trainers from the local Ghana Red Cross took the lead role and the workshop was hosted by the Ghana NRSC, with attendees drawn from the police, fire service, ambulance service, ministries and communities.
As part of the UK Fire and Rescue organisation (UKRO) support for road safety initiatives a fact finding visit was conducted at the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) facility at Tema. The GNFS play a crucial role in safety at the Tema Oil Refinery and in road safety as well as fire fighting. The service personnel were very professional and gave a demonstration of victim extraction from a car crash, using cutting equipment. Although they have first aid capability, they also work closely with the Ghana Ambulance Service, which has paramedics at the fire station.
Safer Roads Users
Voluntary code of conduct
Traffic collisions and casualties cost low and middle income countries an estimated USD 65 billion annually, exceeding the total amount of development assistance received. In addition, the limited resources available in these countries for road safety are often inadequate to affect change in the short and medium term.
The ideal situation would be a world in which there is no need for extensive public expenditure on road safety because people adopt safe behaviour. For example, the overwhelming public support in most high income countries today for the compulsory wearing of seat belts is far removed from the public resistance to buckling up in the1970's.
Personal obligation to safety
The idea that it is possible to engage the public at a personal level in road safety has led to the development of the driver Voluntary Code of Conduct (VCoC). In countries where there are scarce and competing resources, the most effective way to achieve casualty reductions may be to target the public and elicit personal commitment to being a responsible and respectful road user. This project is the result of a partnership between Shell Ghana Limited the Global Road Safety Partnership (Ghana) and the National Road Safety Commission.Historical research into the causes of crashes suggested that road user errors were the predominant cause. The more recent approach of considering the road/vehicle/user system as a whole focuses more on the interactions between users and the physical elements of the system. Behavioural issues and human choices remain critical, however, with respect to aspects such as wearing seat belts and helmets, drinking and driving, and speed.
Low cost, high impact
This project was developed as a result of considering the costs and difficulties of implementing road safety schemes at a national level. It was recognized that for example, a single school safety campaign costing US$1000 would have to be multiplied 20,000 times in order to reach all pupils in Ghana, costs which are far beyond the reach of the current National road safety and education budgets.Drinking and driving campaigns are also very expensive, however, without the necessary police resources and enforcement capability, the risk of being apprehended is low and the deterrent is minimal. The same is true for speeding and other road traffic offences.
The project has been developed in Ghana West Africa as a unique contribution to the national safety issues. It is a relatively low cost scheme with the capacity to influence behaviour nationally.
Strategic issues
The Voluntary Code of Conduct working group identified 10 strategic issues impacting on road safety in Ghana:- Speeding
- Drink Driving
- Seat belt wearing
- Red light running
- Use of mobile phone while driving
- Close following
- Dangerous overtaking
- Inconsiderate driving
- Non use of day running lights
- Pedestrian visibility
These were then drafted into a personal commitment document. The scheme continues to be rolled out through public and private sector organisations in order to create a network of members who have actively agreed to support the 10 issues. To date more than 85 companies are participating in the scheme and Shell have adopted it as part of their operational strategy in other parts of Africa.
Project summary: Voluntary code of conduct, Ghana
Study of seat belt use (completed)
GRSP Ghana undertook the first national study on seat belt compliance in Ghana in 2006 as part of the Drive to Live programme in partnership with Shell Ghana. Seat belt usage was measured in a series of observations undertaken in the country’s regions with the highest crash rates. These observations indicate about 40% compliance with seat belt usage laws. The study (sample size 12,000) also recorded motorcycle helmet usage, mobile phone usage and spectacle wearing. The data was collected prior to a road safety campaign conducted by Shell Ghana that encouraged seat belt wearing and switching off phones while driving. A set of “after” campaign data will be collected, which will also be used to inform a national seat belt campaign. Mr Noah Aguh, a statistician and member of the GRSP Ghana technical group, supervised the data entry and analysis.
Project summary: Seat belt study, Ghana
Training
Two road safety training courses were organised by GRSP Ghana, one for a Youth Coalition (two days) and one for the Police (one day). The courses were both practical and interactive covering issues such as safety audits, safer communities, design of a remedial measure and costing (road infrastructure), designing a road safety campaign, developing a crash recording form and a road safety poster competition.
The police training course featured a staged crash in order to understand the procedures involved in a traffic incident. This included post crash interviews with the participants to identify contributory factors. It emerged that the police had only received rudimentary training in first aid and as a result GRSP Ghana initiated the development of a first aid course for the police with the Ghana Red Cross Society.
Insurance
In early 2007, GRSP Ghana and the Ghana Insurance Industry initiated a cooperation to assist insurance companies in Ghana identify and focus on ways they can positively influence driver behaviour such as introducing a system of premium rates to reward safe drivers.
Project leader: TOTAL
Project partners: NRSC, GRSP Ghana NGO
Safer Vehicles
Vehicle Standards
GRSP Ghana has continued to be an active member of the "Vehicle Standards for Testing" Committee set up by the Standards Board. The aim has been to improve inspection standards for brake systems, lighting, tyres etc. The FIA Foundation seat belt manual was used, in addition to other good practice examples, for establishing national standards in diverse road safety areas such as seat belts.
Dissemination
Dissemination activities
Jack Lewis, GRSP Ghana Executive Secretary, presented a paper on the VCoC at the Drive to Live conference held in Durban (February 2005) and was sponsored by Shell Ghana Ltd. GRSP Ghana had three papers accepted for the Road Safety on Four Continents Conference, in Warsaw in October 2005, one from Jack Lewis and two from the Technical Director, Justice Amegashie. GRSP Ghana also played a major role supporting the NRSC in the national road safety week in December 2005.
Following the success of his first road safety manual (now in its 2nd reprint), Justice Amegashie recently published an abridged Safe Driving Manual (sponsored by DfID). This version contains a section on first aid and will be widely used as part of driving school training in Ghana.
4th UN African Road Safety Congress
GRSP Ghana played a supporting role at the 4th UN African Road Safety Congress, held in the Ghanaian capital on February 6-8 2007. The Congress was held under the theme 'Road Safety and the Millennium Developments Goals: Reducing the Rate of Accident Fatality by Half by 2015'. Attended by over 200 delegates and 25 Ministers from across the continent, the Congress was jointly organised by the Economic Commission from Africa (ECA) and the WHO with support from the FIA Foundation, SIDA (the Swedish International Development Agency) and the UK's Department for International Development.
A key outcome of the Congress was that African Ministers of Transport and Health adopted the 'Accra Declaration' which fully endorses the main recommendations of the Make Road Safe report of the Commission for Global Road Safety.
The Declaration also calls on the G8 summit in Germany in June 2007 to "recognize the urgent need to improve road safety in Africa, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa; systematically include road safety in the work of the Africa Infrastructure Consortium; the Sub Saharan Africa Transport Policy Programme; and in the development assistance programmes of the G8 nations to ensure that new and improved roads in Africa do not increase road traffic death and injuries"