Reflections by S.M.A: Silent carnage: Why our roads must no longer be graveyards

Every speed-streaked horizon, every blaring horn, every curve in our national highways hides a story waiting to be told: a story of shattered families, unrealised potential and avoidable death.

Road traffic accidents have long been treated as unfortunate statistics, a grim inevitability of modern mobility. Yet behind every number lies a human life — a mother, a breadwinner, a daughter — erased not by fate, but by a combination of behavioural neglect, infrastructural failure and societal indifference.

This is not hyperbole. Globally, road traffic injuries claim about 1.25 million lives every year, making them one of the leading causes of death worldwide according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). These tragedies extend far beyond the highways of Europe or the interstates of America — they exact a disproportionately heavy toll on low- and middle-income countries where road safety systems are weak and enforcement sparse.

A Grim Reality on Ghana’s Roads

In Ghana, the crisis is no longer emerging — it is unfolding with alarming regularity. Official data from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) indicate that in recent years the country has seen an upward trend in road crashes, injuries and fatalities.

Between January and July 2024 alone, more than 7,400 road traffic crashes were reported, involving thousands of vehicles, and resulting in nearly 10,000 casualties and over 1,400 deaths — a 13 per cent increase in fatalities compared with the previous year.

Preliminary data for 2025 continue this worrying trajectory. In the first quarter, provisional figures showed 3,674 reported crashes, with 752 deaths and 4,287 injuries — increases of 23 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively, compared with the same period in 2024. These figures also highlighted a notable rise in pedestrian knockdowns, reflecting grave risks faced by the most vulnerable road users.

Other reports indicate that the first six months of 2025 saw over 7,200 crashes, involving more than 12,000 vehicles, which led to 1,500 deaths and over 8,300 injuries — a steep rise compared with the previous year.

Simply put: in Ghana, road traffic injury has become a major public safety crisis — one that rivals, and in some years exceeds, the mortality burden of infectious diseases.

The Faces Behind the Figures

Statistics alone cannot convey the personal anguish of a father never returning from a trip, or the unbearable silence in a home where laughter once lived. Yet these statistics matter because they help us understand patterns and, crucially, how to reverse them.

Across Ghana, data consistently show that:

• Speeding is a major contributor to crashes, responsible for as much as 60 per cent of incidents leading to pedestrian and passenger knockdowns.
• Driver behaviour — including reckless overtaking, failure to observe traffic signs, and distracted driving — is overwhelmingly implicated in road mishaps.
• Vulnerable road users — pedestrians, cyclists, children — are disproportionately affected, especially in urban and peri-urban areas where dedicated infrastructure is lacking.
• Poor vehicle maintenance, overloading, and inadequate road signs compound risks, while inconsistent enforcement emboldens risky behaviours.

These factors are neither abstract nor inscrutable. They are predictable, preventable and repeatedly highlighted by researchers and road safety advocates alike.

Why the Human Factor Matters Most

There has been profound discussion among safety experts in Ghana who argue that the human dimension — driver attitudes and choices — is the crux of the crisis. Even as infrastructure improves, many serious and fatal crashes occur not because of the road surface, but because drivers exceed speed limits, overtake in blind spots, drive while fatigued or under the influence of alcohol, or fail to anticipate hazards.

This insight aligns with global evidence showing that human error accounts for the majority of road crashes. Behavioural risk factors — speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving — consistently lead global road safety reports. It emphasises that while roads and vehicles matter, the decisions made behind the wheel often determine whether a journey ends in tragedy.

Social and Economic Toll

Beyond the heartbreak, the economic impact of road accidents is profound. Crashes impose direct costs — emergency medical care, long-term rehabilitation, loss of labour — and indirect costs such as diminished productivity, increased insurance premiums and the ripple effects on families and communities. Every preventable death is, in economic terms, a loss of human capital that no society can afford.

In countries like Ghana, where many victims are young adults — primary earners for their families — the socioeconomic burden is especially heavy. The acceleration of road casualties thus threatens not only public health but broader development goals.

Towards a Safer Future: What Must Be Done

If road traffic deaths were rising in Ghana despite improvements in road construction, then the answer lies not only in engineering but in a holistic approach that encompasses:

Public Education and Behaviour Change

Sustained and targeted campaigns are essential — not just during festive periods — to instil a culture of safe driving. Education should focus on the dangers of speeding, the importance of seat belts and helmets, and the risks of driving while tired or distracted.

Stronger Enforcement of Traffic Laws

Consistent enforcement of speed limits, drink-driving laws and vehicle safety standards sends a clear message: reckless driving has consequences. Technology such as speed cameras and breathalysers should support, not replace, active policing.

Better Infrastructure for All Road Users

Road design must protect pedestrians and cyclists with dedicated crossings, pavements and lighting. High-risk highway segments should be redesigned to reduce conflict points and manage speed.

Vehicle Roadworthiness and Maintenance

Routine inspections and certification of vehicles must be enforced to ensure that cars, buses and motorcycles on the roads are safe and reliable.

 Data-Driven Decision Making

Accurate, real-time crash data — including behavioural and environmental factors — are vital for crafting interventions and measuring progress. Authorities must prioritise comprehensive reporting systems and open data sharing.

A Call to Collective Responsibility

Road safety is not the sole responsibility of drivers or enforcement agencies alone — it is a societal obligation. Employers who push drivers to meet unrealistic schedules, families who neglect seat belt use, and communities that accept risky behaviours without challenge all share in the outcome.

The full price of inaction is measured not merely in statistics but in lives unfulfilled, families in mourning, and potential unclaimed. Yet it is also true that road accidents are significantly preventable — with political will, community engagement, and a shift in national consciousness.

As Ghana continues to expand its highway network and mobility grows, the time has come to ensure that progress does not inadvertently pave the way to avoidable deaths. Let our next journey on the roads be taken with greater responsibility, respect for life, and a collective commitment to make our highways places of safe travel — not silent graveyards.

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