Ghana’s Road Carnage: The Real Problem Is Behind the Steering Wheel
Road traffic accidents (RTAs) in Ghana have assumed the character of a national public health crisis. Over the past decade, road crashes, injuries, and fatalities have followed a disturbing upward trajectory, despite sustained investments in road infrastructure, traffic enforcement, and public education. The human, social, and economic costs of this trend are enormous, yet our national response remains largely reactive. If Ghana is to make meaningful progress in reducing road carnage, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: the most critical factor in road traffic accidents is not the road, nor the vehicle, but the attitude and behaviour of the driver.
Recent data from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) paint a grim picture. Preliminary reports covering 2025 indicate that over 13,320 road crashes were recorded between January and November, resulting in 2,673 deaths. The Greater Accra, Eastern, and Ashanti Regions accounted for the highest number of crashes, injuries, and fatalities. In 2024, Ghana recorded 13,489 crashes with 2,494 deaths. The year 2023 saw 2,276 deaths and 15,409 injuries, while 2022 recorded 2,373 deaths alongside 15,690 injuries. Even during the COVID-19 period when mobility was relatively reduced, road fatalities remained high, 2,924 deaths in 2021 and 2,589 deaths in 2020. In fact, road traffic crashes have claimed more Ghanaian lives than COVID-19 itself. Yet, as a nation, we have not accorded this silent epidemic the level of urgency, policy attention, and behavioural reform it clearly demands.
These figures are not just statistics; they represent lives lost prematurely, families devastated, and productivity drained from the national economy. Yet what is even more troubling is that the majority of these crashes with more deaths involve four-wheeled vehicles, buses, and trucks, vehicles typically operated by trained, licensed drivers, many of whom drive professionally for a living. This alone should compel us to re-examine our assumptions about what truly drives road traffic accidents in Ghana.
For decades, the dominant public narrative has blamed poor roads for road crashes. While there is no denying that road conditions matter, this explanation has become an easy escape from addressing the more complex and uncomfortable issue of human behaviour behind the steering wheel. Over the years, Ghana has witnessed modest improvements in road infrastructure. Major highways have been reconstructed, urban roads expanded, and traffic management systems upgraded. Yet road traffic accidents have not declined proportionately. In some instances, they have even increased. This clearly demonstrates that road dualisation alone does not automatically translate into accident prevention, despite the optimism surrounding projects such as the Kumasi–Accra Expressway and the Accra–Takoradi corridor. Even on well-designed, dualised roads, negative driving attitudes, such as over-speeding, reckless overtaking, inattention, wrong parking, and disrespect for traffic regulations, can still result in serious and fatal crashes.
This paradox forces us to ask: Why do accidents persist, even on good roads? A closer look at accident patterns provides important clues. Roads with smooth surfaces, long stretches, and relatively free traffic, such as the Accra–Kumasi highway or the Accra–Cape Coast–Takoradi corridor, consistently record higher numbers of serious crashes and fatalities. In contrast, roads characterised by congestion and heavy traffic, such as the Circle–Kaneshie stretch or the Madina Zongo Junction to UPSA corridor in Accra, often record fewer fatal accidents, especially during peak hours. Similarly, severely deplorable sections of the Eastern Corridor tend to record relatively low accident rates, largely because poor road conditions compel drivers to slow down and exercise extreme caution. These patterns suggest that speed, risk perception, and driver vigilance, rather than road quality alone, play a decisive role in the occurrence and severity of road traffic accidents. These observations are not an argument against road improvement; rather, it underscores that if the goal is to reduce road carnage, equal, if not greater, attention must be paid to the attitudes and behaviours of those behind the steering wheel.
Although this conclusion may appear counterintuitive, it is well established within traffic psychology. In congested environments, drivers are forced to move slowly, maintain shorter stopping distances, and remain cognitively alert. Every movement of another vehicle, pedestrian, or motorbike demands attention. Drivers anticipate danger, regulate speed, and remain engaged with the driving task. The margin for error is small, and drivers know it.
On open highways, however, a different psychological process unfolds. Drivers perceive the road as “safe,” speed limits become suggestions rather than rules, and vigilance declines. Excessive speed, risky overtaking, fatigue, mobile phone use, and overconfidence combine to create lethal conditions. When something unexpected occurs, a pedestrian crossing, a stalled vehicle, a tyre burst, the driver has little time to react, and the consequences are often fatal. It is under these circumstances that accidents involving large numbers of casualties are most recorded. This pattern is evident in crashes involving long-distance commercial buses, including the popular “VIP” buses, as well as fuel tanker trucks, which rarely experience such catastrophic accidents on congested urban roads but are far more vulnerable on high-speed highways.
The implication is clear: accidents are not merely a function of road quality, but of how drivers behave on those roads. Unfortunately, Ghana lacks robust primary data that systematically examine the behavioural and psychological contributors to road traffic accidents. Data from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service are often incomplete, with limited attention paid to the cognitive, emotional, or mental state of the driver at the time of the crash. Critical questions remain unanswered: Was the driver fatigued? Angry? Distracted? Under pressure to meet a deadline? Overconfident? Risk-seeking?
The NRSA, which relies heavily on summary data from the MTTD, is therefore constrained in its ability to fully appreciate the dynamics and predictors of road crashes. Without detailed behavioural data, interventions remain generic, focusing on road signs, slogans, and enforcement, while the deeper drivers of risky behaviour go unaddressed.
Recent public debates surrounding the Toyota Voxy vehicle illustrate this misplaced focus. Following reports that the Voxy, a seven-seater family vehicle imported largely from Japan, has been involved in several accidents, calls have emerged for the vehicle to be banned. The NRSA has even announced the formation of a technical committee to investigate the matter. While technical scrutiny is important, this reaction risks missing the bigger picture. The Toyota Voxy is originally manufactured as a right-hand drive vehicle and later converted to left-hand drive for use in Ghana. However, it is far from the only vehicle to undergo such conversion. Popular models such as the Toyota Vitz, Sienta, and similar vehicles are also reconfigured for Ghanaian roads. Yet these vehicles have not attracted the same level of public concern because the perception out there is that they are not involved in accidents. This raises an important question: Why is the vehicle being blamed rather than the driver?
Mechanical failure certainly contributes to some accidents, but vehicles do not make independent decisions. They do not choose to overspeed, overtake recklessly, drive while fatigued, or ignore traffic regulations. These are human choices. Singling out one vehicle model risks diverting attention from the real issue, unsafe driving attitudes and behaviours that cut across vehicle types.
If Ghana is serious about reducing road traffic accidents, then policy attention must shift decisively towards shaping driver attitudes. Attitudes influence how drivers perceive risk, interpret road rules, respond to enforcement, and interact with other road users. A driver who believes that speeding demonstrates competence, that traffic laws are negotiable, or that enforcement can be evaded is more likely to engage in risky behaviour. Equally important is the role of traffic fatalism, the belief that road accidents are inevitable and that if a crash occurs, it is simply “meant to happen”. This fatalistic mindset undermines personal responsibility, reduces motivation to adopt safe driving practices, and ultimately reinforces dangerous behaviours on the road. Changing driver attitudes is not easy, but it is achievable if interventions are evidence-based and sustained over time.
The author is an Applied Cognitive Psychologist with research interests in Traffic Psychology and Mental Health. He is a Lecturer at the School of Public Health, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana. Email: armohammed@uds.edu.gh
By Dr. Abdul-Raheem Mohammed
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