Creating Safer Roads and Preventing Traffic Injuries in Ghana

Key Investigator: James Damsere Derry
Funding Source: Fogarty Grant from the National Institutes of Health

Excessive speeding and vehicular accidents have long plagued Ghana, a coastal African nation where pedestrians constitute more than 40% of all road fatalities each year. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Injury Prevention Center, the University of Washington, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Ghana’s traffic patterns and driver habits have come under scrutiny.  Here’s what investigator James Damsere Derry, Fogarty Fellow, and his colleagues found when they conducted research on traffic patterns:

• Speeding is pervasive, especially in crowded areas where over 90% of vehicles exceed posted limits.
• In rural areas, nearly 50-70% of vehicles travelled above posted speeds.
• Excessive speeding contributes greatly to severe crash outcomes. 

To improve traffic safety, researchers recommended enforcement and posting of minimum and maximum speed limits. They also suggested speed calming measures in congested areas, and that roads bypass residential areas whenever possible.

Their research and recommendations gained national attention in Ghana almost immediately. In 2007, the most extensive implementation of traffic-calming and speed-control measures in the country’s history began. With evaluation ongoing, early data support a dramatic reduction of traffic-related pedestrian injury.  Funding for this study was provided by a Fogarty Grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The grant supports research and training for scientists in developing nations around the world.