Accra: A total of 2,673 individuals lost their lives in road crashes between January and November 2025, marking an 18.5 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024.
According to Ghana News Agency, a National Road Traffic Crash and Casualty Situation Statistics Report detailed that 13,320 road traffic crashes were recorded during this period, involving 22,532 vehicles across all categories, including private, commercial, and motorcycles, leading to 15,173 injuries. The report highlighted increases in cases reported, vehicles involved, injuries sustained, and pedestrian knockdowns by 7.3 percent, 6.4 percent, 5.7 percent, and 4.7 percent respectively, compared with the previous year.
The report categorized the crashes as 47 percent minor (6,213 crashes), 36 percent serious (4,873 crashes), and 17 percent fatal (2,234 crashes). Fatal crashes were defined as incidents that resulted in at least one death within 30 days, serious crashes required hospitalisation exceeding 24 hours, and minor crashes involved less than 24-hour hospitalisation or no injuries.
During this timeframe, 2,312 pedestrians were knocked down, showing a 4.7 percent increase from the 2,208 cases reported in the same period in 2024, with May seeing the highest number of pedestrian knockdowns at 265 cases. The data also revealed that 296 of those killed (11 percent) were below 18 years, while 2,377 (89 percent) were adults, indicating a 7:1 adult-to-child fatality ratio due to adults' higher exposure to traffic risks.
Gender analysis showed that 2,139 males (80 percent) and 534 females (20 percent) were killed, highlighting a consistent trend where for every female fatality, four males lost their lives. Regarding vehicle involvement, private vehicles made up 40 percent of those involved in crashes, followed by commercial vehicles at 34 percent, and motorcycles at 26 percent. Compared to 2024 figures, the involvement of commercial vehicles, private vehicles, and motorcycles rose by 4.8 percent, 1.8 percent, and 17.9 percent respectively.
The report also indicated that motorbikes constituted 72 percent of cycles involved in crashes, with tricycles at 25 percent, bicycles at two percent, and handcarts at one percent. Despite motorcycles forming the least proportion of vehicles overall, their crash share was described as alarming given their population relative to the total vehicle fleet.
Regionally, the North East Region experienced the highest percentage increase in crashes at 57.14 percent, while the Northern Region saw the highest decrease at 30.16 percent. The Ashanti Region had an 11.4 percent increase in deaths (65 fatalities), the Eastern Region saw a 33.1 percent rise (146 deaths), and Greater Accra recorded a 2.3 percent increase (eight deaths). Although Greater Accra recorded more than double the number of crashes compared to the Eastern Region, fatalities were higher in the Eastern Region, with 28 deaths per 100 crashes compared to 10 deaths in Greater Accra.
The report identified Ashanti, Eastern, and Greater Accra Regions as critical areas for crashes, injuries, and deaths (CIDs) and urged the National Road Safety Authority, in collaboration with stakeholders, to intensify interventions to reverse the rising trend.