An Engineer with the Building and Road Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-BRRI), Francis Afukaar wants enhanced campaigns targeting seat-belt use among drivers and passengers of especially minibuses.
His call comes on the back of a research in Kumasi which found a zero per cent use of seat-belt by occupants of minibuses or minivans.
He made the outcome of this research known during the Bloomberg Road Safety workshop in Kumasi.
The research which took place between November 2020 and May 2022 in Kumasi, sought to know the prevalence of risk factors such as speed, helmet use and seat belt and child restraint.
It was conducted through observation. In all, four rounds of speed observations were made.
The findings revealed overall seat-belt use was as low as 15%. They also found seat-belt use was low among front-seat passengers and almost non-existent among rear-seat passengers.
On gender, the research further revealed that female drivers (61%) are more likely to wear seat-belts compared to male drivers.
Interestingly, vehicle occupants were 20% less likely to wear seat-belts on weekends.
Again, seat-belt use was 1.3 times more likely in the presence of the Police and enforcement cameras.
Finally, child restraint use for children under 5 years of age was low at 17%. However, for children between 5 and 11 years, seat belts were rarely used.
The research was funded by Bloomberg philanthropies Initiative for Global Safety.
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