Almost every month, we read reports of road traffic accidents that claim the lives of many innocent Ghanaians. We have all lost loved ones through road accidents, haven’t we?
Road accidents occur in every country. They are an inevitable part of life. The concern is thus not whether there are road accidents in Ghana? Instead, it is to find out how Ghana compares with the Africa average and also to the world average. In other words, is Ghana doing a good job relative to Africa and the world?
Let’s start with figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO estimates that about 1.19 million people died on the world’s roads in 2021. This is roughly 15 deaths per 100,000 people. The African Region recorded 19.4 deaths per 100,000 people. Ghana’s estimated rate was 25.9 deaths per 100,000.
What does this mean?
This means Ghana’s deaths are approx 34% above Africa’s average and 73% above the global average. This means that Ghana is worse than the average in Africa and the average in the world in terms of deaths from road traffic accidents. How did we get here?
Ghana loses approx 8 people each day to road traffic accidents. If a minibus carries approx 30 people, this means Ghana loses a full minibus of its citizens every 4 days through road traffic accidents.
This is totally unacceptable because it is avoidable.
In April 2026, the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) reported that police data attributes approx 90% of the crashes to human error with speeding alone accounting for 38 – 40% and speed – related factors implicated in approx 60%.
Choices made daily on our roads are cutting lives short faster than expected. These lives are not just numbers. They are the parents, spouses, siblings, children, grandparents, and loved ones of many of us. Some are breadwinners, and their death means the loss of livelihoods to many people. 💔
So, which category of road users are dying the most?
The Ghana WHO 2020 reports give the following share of deaths:
Pedestrians = 31%
Powered motorcycle & tricycles = 33%
Vehicle occupants = 14%
Cyclists = 2%
Others/unknown = 20%
A more recent source is from the Accra Road Safety Report 2024 which provides the following share of deaths:
Pedestrians = 56%
Motorcyclists = 27%
Vehicle occupants = 16%
Cyclists = 3%
In both the WHO (2020) report and the Accra Road Safety Report (2024), there are similar trends.
a/ Pedestrians are dying the most.
b/ Motorcyclists & Tricyclists are dying significantly.
c/ Road users outside a vehicle are at a higher risk of death than those inside a vehicle.
d/ 2 – 3% of deaths are among cyclists.
e/ 14 – 16% of those in vehicles die in road traffic accidents.
According to the National Road Safety Authority (2026), Ghana’s pedestrian death is worsening as it rose from 590 (2024) to 704 (2025). This represents an increase of approx 19%.
Ghana’s road carnage is not simply a statistic. It is a national emergency that demands urgent action. When thousands of road users and pedestrians lose their lives in a single year, we cannot continue to treat these deaths as a part of everyday life.
This is not normal.
It is an emergency.
A national emergency.
Kofi Amekudzi (Sept 2026)
