NRSA urges police to arrest pedestrians who fail to use footbridges
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has urged the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service to arrest and prosecute pedestrians who fail to use designated footbridges, as part of efforts to reduce road crashes and fatalities.
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has called on the Ghana Police Service to arrest and prosecute pedestrians who do not use designated footbridges. This comes as part of a broader effort to reduce road crashes and fatalities in the country. NRSA Director-General Abraham Amaliba emphasized the importance of enforcing road traffic regulations to ensure pedestrian safety, especially at locations where footbridges have been installed.
He stressed that footbridges are not merely decorative but are meant to be used by pedestrians to prevent accidents. The call for stricter enforcement was made at the launch of the Safe Crossing, Safe Lives pedestrian safety campaign in Madina Zongo, La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly. The campaign, led by the Greater Accra Regional NRSA, aims to promote safe pedestrian behavior and encourage the use of footbridges and other designated crossing facilities to minimize pedestrian-related crashes and deaths.
The police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) is urged to collaborate with metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies to enforce the use of footbridges and clear traders from pedestrian walkways. NRSA data indicates that pedestrian knockdowns account for 33% of deaths from reported road crashes, with about 20,988 of the 63,599 road crash deaths in Ghana between 1991 and 2025 resulting from such incidents.
The Road Traffic Regulations require pedestrians to use footbridges or underpasses where provided, with penalties for non-compliance. Dr Daniel Asare, an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician at the National Ambulance Service, also spoke at the event, calling for greater collaboration among stakeholders to prevent pedestrian knockdowns and other road crashes.
He noted that road crashes not only lead to loss of lives but also impose significant economic burdens and strain the country's emergency response system. Asare emphasized that preventing crashes is better than treating them, as using footbridges is safer than ambulance response.
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