Northern Region records 47 road-crash related deaths in nine months

The Northern Region has recorded 14 deaths and 216 injuries from road crashes in the first nine months of the year.

The Region recorded 139 road crashes, involving 240 vehicles from January to September 2020.

The Northern Regional Director of the National Road Safety Authority, Mr Alexander Ayatah, who disclosed this in Tamale, decried the increasing spate of road accidents in the region.

He advised road users to strictly adhere to road safety regulations to reduce the carnage on the roads.

Mr. Ayatah was addressing Adolescents on Wheels Durbar held to educate and inform adolescents in the Tamale Metropolis on the safe use of the roads.

The event was attended by opinion leaders, students, pupils, and other stakeholders in the metropolis.

As part of the event, branded bicycles with messages about healthy living were launched to remind the adolescents anytime they ride bicycles to and from school.

The event formed part of the Healthy Cities for Adolescents (HCA) project being implemented by the Regional Institute of Population Studies of the University of Ghana in collaboration with the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) with support from the Botnar Foundation.

The HCA project, amongst others, seeks to build a multi-stakeholder consortium with the capacity to use evidence-based information for strategic programming that promotes adolescent health and general well-being towards realizing the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Field Programme Officer, HCA Field Office, Tamale, Clara Lamisi Weobong, said the event was significant to educate the adolescents on their rights and responsibilities as road users.

Mrs. Weobong drew the attention of the Assembly and the political leadership to poor street lights, crowded traders on the pavements, unlicensed road users, poor and unworthy vehicles, which contributed to an unhealthy city for adolescents.

She called on the authorities to enforce road safety measures, improve sanitation, quality health care, and education, policy reforms including bye-laws to make the Tamale city safe and healthy for the young population.

She urged the adolescents to register with the HCA project to brand their bicycles with messages about healthy living.

The Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr. Iddrisu Musah, who was represented at the event, noted that Tamale was a major city for migrants and commended the HCA project for helping to ensure sanity in the metropolis.

Ms. Blessing Kumah, an adolescent, lauded the HCA project for prioritising their needs and to make the city and the roads safe for them.