Abuja: Legal Resources Centre (LRC) Ghana has called for stronger enforcement of road safety reforms, cautioning that rampant speeding is undermining national productivity and driving up fatalities, especially among the active labour force and children. The Centre says road crashes cost Ghana as much as 5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), reinforcing the need for decisive enforcement and safer road design.
According to Ghana News Agency, by December 2025, 2,949 people had died on Ghana's roads, marking an 18.2 per cent surge in fatalities. Excessive speeding caused more than 60 per cent of crashes, striking hardest at the nation's most productive generations. Mr Enock Jengre, a lawyer and programmes officer at the LRC, noted that the disproportionate leap in fatalities revealed the chilling truth that Ghana's roads have become increasingly lethal. New provisional data from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) indicate that excessive speeding accounts for more than 60 per cent of collisions nationwide.
Mr Jengre described the situation as a 'public health emergency' disproportionately affecting individuals aged 18 to 55, stripping families of breadwinners and the nation of its future. Despite the focus on motorcycles in road safety debates, 2025 data showed that private and commercial vehicles combined accounted for 73.7 per cent of all vehicles involved in crashes. Commercial vehicle involvement, including buses and minibuses, rose by 6.4 per cent, with these vehicles often facing intense pressure to meet schedules on high-speed arterial roads, leading to 'racing' and high-impact collisions.
Private vehicles accounted for 40.4 per cent of all those involved, with earlier assessments finding that 71 per cent of private vehicles exceeded posted speed limits, particularly on weekends. Nearly three-quarters of these tragedies are concentrated in the Ashanti, Greater Accra, and Eastern regions, highlighting a critical failure of speed management in the country's busiest urban and inter-city corridors.
Mr Jengre estimated that preventable road deaths consume between 3 and 5 per cent of Ghana's GDP. He urged a transition to a 'Safe System' approach where road design and law enforcement collaborate to forgive human error. He highlighted the potential of Automated Speed Enforcement, as manual policing is often inconsistent and prone to human limitations. Global best practices show that automated systems, such as fixed cameras and point-to-point average speed systems, can reduce fatal and injury crashes by up to 37 per cent.
With the amendment to the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180) expected to become law after Parliament's mandatory 21 sittings, Mr Jengre emphasized the importance of strict operationalization and enforcement of Traffictech by the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department. He argued for 'self-enforcing' road designs, recommending retrofitting urban roads with speed humps, raised platforms, chicanes, and narrower lanes to compel safe speeds without constant police presence.
He also advocated for legislative changes and institutional unification, urging the revival and passage of the National Roads Authority Act to merge the Ghana Highways Authority, the Department of Urban Roads, and Feeder Roads into a single accountable road safety body. Strengthening fleet and technology standards was also recommended, with Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) or speed limiters mandated for all commercial and government vehicle fleets. Data indicates that ISA alone could reduce serious crashes by up to 50 per cent.
As Ghana looks toward 2026, officials warn that the 2025 statistics serve as a final and urgent warning. Denis Yeribu, programme manager for the National Road Safety Authority, stressed the need for a culture of responsibility supported by a system that refuses to accept death as the price of mobility. LRC is a Ghanaian nonprofit organisation that promotes human rights, legal advocacy, and justice sector reforms through research, public education, and policy engagement.