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Africa's Deadly Roads: Motorized Tricycle Riders Lead to Majority of Traffic Accidents in Ghana
November 26, 2024
CategoryAfrica Central
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/Script((INTRO))
According to the Kumasi Road Safety Report by Bloomberg Initiative for Road Safety and Partners, motorized tricycle riders are the cause of most traffic accidents and fatalities on the roads in Ghanaian city of Kumasi. Motorists say that these riders are dangerous due to their blatant disregard for basic traffic regulations. Still, the demand for their services keeps them on the roads. VOA’s Edmond Agyei Kumi has the story from Kumasi, Ghana.
((PTC))
((Edmond Agyei Kumi, VOA))
((Male, in English))
“Behind me is the Sofoline Abuakwa Road that is, by far, the deadliest road in the city of Kumasi. It has recorded the most crashes and deaths over the years. According to the Bloomberg Report on Road Safety, SUVs [Sports Utility Vehicles] cause the most crashes on this road, but motorcycles and commercial tricycles record the most fatalities, making this stretch of road a nightmare for the riders and their passengers.
((NARRATOR))
It is early morning in Alaba, but for 33-year-old Kenneth Akutusi, the day begins late, as he usually started working at night as one of the thousands of motorized tricycle operators in the city of Kumasi. He has been riding a commercial motorized tricycle, locally known as ‘pragia’ or ‘adedeta’, for close to five years, and it is his primary source of income. Kenneth helps to commute traders, government workers, and students to destinations along the Sofoline to Abuakwa stretch of road in Kumasi.
((VIDEO: wide shot of the Alaba community, cut to Kenneth’s parked tricycle, cut to Kenneth washing his face, cut to Kenneth greeting his neighbours as he walks to his tricycle, cut to Kenneth climbing in his tricycle and speeding off))
((Kenneth Akutusi, Motorized Tricycle Rider))
((Male, in Akan Twi))
“Operating a vehicle like this on the road is a tricky issue. Most drivers with bigger vehicles always want to bully, and if you allow them, you will be the one to suffer. However, because of the small size of this vehicle, we are able to maneuver our ways and enter places they cannot enter. So, the customers like us more.”
((VIDEO: Kenneth drives past on his tricycle, cut to Kenneth picking up a passenger and driving off, cut to Kenneth skilfully steering the tricycle on a rough road))
((NARRATOR))
The Sofoline Abuakwa Road is notorious for crashes and fatalities, especially for tricycle and motorcycle operators.
((Kenneth Akutusi, Motorized Tricycle Rider))
((Male, in Akan Twi))
“The road is dangerous though. I know some riders who lost their lives on that road, and there are many unlicensed riders there. But I know that road. I am more experienced, so I can anticipate the sudden moves by the big cars. I keep an eye out for those.
((VIDEO: Wide shot of Aboabo community, wide shot of Alhassan Sidi walking up to tricycle riders and greeting them and conversing with them))
((NARRATOR))
Generally, motorized tricycles are deemed too erratic and dangerous due to the unpredictable way they are operated. In 2023, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly imposed a ban on their operations in the Central Business District of the city. Alhassan Sidi, Public Relations Officer of the Tricycle Riders Union believes that riders cannot be solely blamed for these accidents. According to him, the police are not ready to receive help from the union to identify bad riders. VOA reached out to the police, but they declined to comment on the issue.
((Alhassan Sidi, Public Relations Officer, Tricycle Riders Union))
((Male, in English))
“One institution cannot effectively root out the bad riders. So, we have proposed a joint task force to be made up of our own people who know the unlicensed riders and the police. This was rejected on the basis that the police know their jobs and do not need our help. The unlicensed riders are the few bad apples giving us a bad name.”
((Kenneth Akutusi, Motorized Tricycle Rider))
((Male, in Akan Twi))
“A while back, when I started this job, the policemen did not bother us much. There was a few of us and we didn’t cause much trouble. After the number of riders increased and the police started receiving countless complaints from motorists and pedestrians about the behaviour of some riders, the police are now our worst enemies, and they never miss out a chance to harass an ‘adedeta’ rider.
((VIDEO: Mark Tonyemevor, an urban mobility analyst for the World Resources Institute, delivers a data report at the launch of a speed management plan for Kumasi, cut to Becky Bevinger from Bloomberg Philantropies, and the Mayor of Kumasi in the audience listening.))
((NARRATOR))
Mark Tonyemevor, an urban mobility analyst with the World Resources Institute, emphasizes over speeding as the main cause of fatalities and crashes that motorized tricycles encounter on the Sofoline Abuakwa Road.
((Mark Tonyemevor, Urban Mobility Analyst, World Resources Institute))
((Male, in English)
“From the crash data collected over the years, the main cause of crashes and consequent fatalities on this road is over speeding, and all vehicles are implicit in this. It is quiet unfortunate that when these crashes happen, due to the sizes and makeup of the tricycles, they end up receiving the brunt of the damages, injuries, and fatalities.”
((Kenneth Akutusi, Motorized Tricycle Rider))
((Male, in Akan Twi))
“When you are in the inner lane, you have to speed up to keep up with the big cars. But if a passenger wants to get down, you have to slow down and steer into the outer lane. Two things can happen here. First, the sudden slowing can cause the car behind you ram into your tricycle, and secondly, the sharp steering can throw our tricycle off balance and topple it. I, therefore, stay strictly in the outer lane where I can maintain a reasonable speed limit.”
((VIDEO: Kenneth exchanges pleasantries with his regular customer, cut to him helping load her goods into his tricycle, cut to him driving away with her in the backseat))
((NARRATOR))
Despite the dangers this road poses to tricycles, it is still widely preferred and in huge demand. Akua Victoria, a restaurant owner who is also Kenneth’s customer, prefers the use of tricycles to ‘trotro’ or taxi.
((Akua Victoria, Restaurant Owner))
((Female, in Akan Twi))
“The tricycles are cheaper compared to the taxis. They also get here faster than the taxis, especially when there is traffic congestion. If I take a taxi every day, I’ll run at a loss. Also, Kenneth is very helpful and honest. I forgot my cell phone in his tricycle once and he brought it back to me.”
((VIDEO: Kwabena Baffuor, a ‘trotro’ driver and his conductor waiting for the ‘trotro’ to get full, cut to his conductor shouting his destination out))
((NARRATOR))
Most ‘trotro’ drivers despise tricycle riders and believe they should be banned, not only from the Central Business District, but from the entire city of Kumasi.
((Kwabena Baffuor, Trotro driver))
((Male, in Akan Twi))
“How these tricycles behave on the roads is very bad. They can cross you anytime, anyhow, regardless of which lane they’re in. Whenever the greenlight is on, they want to overtake you, so they squeeze right in front of you. I almost ran over one of them last week on this very road. I think they should be made to operate in small towns, not a city like Kumasi.”
((Kenneth Akutusi, Motorized Tricycle Rider))
((Male, Akan Twi))
“I’ll always place safety first because life is precious. However, I will not allow myself to be bullied by any driver because I have equal right to be on the road as they are.”
((VIDEO: Kenneth buys fuel from a filling station, cut to him paying the attendant, cut to him climbing back on the tricycle and riding off into the distance))
((NARRATOR))
With their nine-to-five workday hanging by a thread, Kenneth says, he and his fellow riders have no other choice but to continue to risk their lives on this road until new laws are put in place to improve the situation.
Edmond Agyei Kumi, VOA News, Ghana.
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