The Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) has revealed that the official road crash death statistics reported by the Ghana Police Service and the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) significantly underestimate the actual number of fatalities.
According to research conducted by BIGRS, the true number of road crash deaths is 200 percent higher than the figures reported by these institutions.
However, BIGRS does not attribute this discrepancy to deliberate underreporting.
Instead, the organization points to limited resources as the primary factor hindering the police and NRSA from effectively following up with hospitals and mortuaries where crash victims are taken after incidents.
This revelation was shared during a road safety journalism training workshop in Kumasi, organized by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC). The workshop focused on speed management and helmet standards, with selected journalists and news editors in attendance.
Mavis Obeng Mensah, Communications Officer for BIGRS, explained to media that the true figures were uncovered through research conducted at hospital facilities and mortuaries in Accra and Kumasi, where victims of road crashes are often admitted.
By comparing their findings with data from the NRSA and the police, they discovered that the actual death toll was 200 percent higher than the reported figures.
Mavis emphasized the need for the government to prioritize road safety and allocate sufficient funding to enable the police, NRSA, and other relevant institutions to enhance public education and improve data collection efforts.
