Passenger Safety And Security In Road Travel: An Assessment Of Prevailing Situation And Interventions In Ghana

Abstract

Road crashes have become a public health problem with about 1.35 million people dying every year on the roads across the globe, and up to 50 million people sustaining various degrees of injuries, some of which lead to permanent disability. Ghana over the past three decades lost 50,311 people through road crash fatalities, and 362,203 others sustained various degrees of injuries within the same period. Moreover, highway robbery has become a serious insecurity in Ghana’s road transport sector. This study therefore sought to assess passenger safety and security in road travel and the interventions that are in place. Adopting the pragmatist research philosophy, and guided by the accident/incident theory and the routine activities theory, the explanatory sequential mixed method was used for data collection. A multistage sampling method was used to select six transport organisations, 372 passengers for a survey, and 40 participants for a follow-up indepth interviews and a focus group discussion. Additionally, some observations, as well as a desktop review were also carried out. The results indicate that safety and security in road travel are in poor state. Further, the road safety problem in Ghana is mainly attitudinal on the part of both road users and regulators, and that security is not incorporated in the road transport regulation. The study recommends the development of effective strategies to influence attitudinal change with road users and regulators as well. Further, there is the need for strict enforcement of road traffic regulations, and intensification of some existing security interventions. There is also the need for the Ministry of Transport, in collaboration with the Police to develop a standardised road transport security intervention for implementation by the public transport organisations in Ghana.