Introduction of telematics-based insurance as an approach to reduce road traffic crashes in urban Ghana –stakeholders’ perspectives from Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis

Abstract

Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are at a pandemic level all over the world. Annually, road traffic crashes are responsible for 1.35 million deaths and 50 million injuries. In Ghana, annual RTCs account for nearly 2000 deaths and about 15,000 injuries. Several countries have reduced the impact of road traffic crashes through telematics-based insurance policy. In this type of policy, the insurance company collects driving data such as speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering behaviour using a telematics device installed in the vehicle. There are several benefits associated with the use of this innovative policy. However, despite the benefits, research to ascertain whether stakeholders in the transport sector will accept the adoption of telematics as a policy is limited in Ghana. The purpose of this research was to assess the knowledge, awareness, and perceptions of insurance companies and other road transport stakeholder institutions and related groups and their willingness to adopt such a policy in Sekondi-Takoradi as part of the measures to reduce road traffic crashes. The study used a qualitative methodology using an exploratory research design. The study purposively sampled 13 non-life insurance companies and six other transport stakeholder institutions and groups and conducted in-depth interviews to collect data. The results reveal among others that the majority of insurance companies and other transport stakeholder groups in the metropolis are aware of telematics and ready to adopt it as an insurance policy. The study, therefore, recommends that the government of Ghana together with the major stakeholders should provide the needed infrastructure and training to adopt and support the implementation of such a policy.