Too many schoolchildren dying on our roads – Mahama backs TraffiTech

President John Dramani Mahama has defended the introduction of the TraffiTech-GH speed enforcement system, citing the deaths and life-changing injuries suffered by schoolchildren knocked down by speeding vehicles as a compelling reason for stricter traffic regulation.

He said the country could no longer afford to delay measures to control speeding while children continued to lose their lives or sustain permanent disabilities on their way home from school.

The president said protecting vulnerable road users, particularly schoolchildren, must be a priority in the country's efforts to reduce road crashes.

"If you look at the number of children knocked down every year in Ghana when they are coming from school, you will understand why it is important for us to check over speeding. Children coming from school are knocked down and killed or permanently injured, and so it is important for us to check speeding," he said.

Speaking to 1957 News on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Jumby Bay Island in Antigua and Barbuda, President Mahama maintained that the need to protect lives justified the deployment of technology to enforce traffic regulations.

His comments come amid public debate over the introduction of TraffiTech-GH, particularly concerns about the cost of penalties, the condition of roads and whether motorists should be subjected to stricter enforcement before the government addresses existing infrastructure deficiencies.

President Mahama rejected arguments that the government should first repair roads and improve related infrastructure before introducing the automated traffic enforcement system.

He said road maintenance and traffic law enforcement were not mutually exclusive responsibilities and that deficiencies in the road network should not become an excuse for allowing dangerous driving to continue.

He cited the United Kingdom, where speed cameras are deployed despite roads not being in perfect condition, to support his argument that traffic enforcement should not be postponed until all infrastructure challenges have been resolved.

"My understanding is that Traffitech has begun with overspeeding; they have not yet added the other components of jumping red lights and parking wrongly. And so I hear they [the public] say we should fix the roads before we introduce Traffitech. I mean, it doesn't happen like that. The roads are not perfect in the UK, and yet they have speed cameras," he said.

The President's argument is that controlling excessive speed is an immediate road safety intervention, particularly in areas where pedestrians and children are exposed to fast-moving vehicles.

Available road safety statistics highlight the scale of the country's road safety challenge.

Figures released by the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) show that Ghana recorded 2,949 road crash deaths in 2025, compared with 2,494 in 2024, representing an 18.2 per cent increase.

The crashes also resulted in 16,714 injuries, while pedestrian knockdowns increased by seven per cent to 2,561 cases.

Of those killed in road crashes during 2025, 328 were below 18 years, representing approximately 11 per cent of the fatalities.

The figures underline the risks faced by children and other vulnerable road users, although the national statistics do not separately establish how many of the child fatalities occurred while pupils were travelling to or from school.

The NRSA has repeatedly called for stronger enforcement and greater cooperation among road safety stakeholders to reverse the rising fatalities.

While defending the speed enforcement initiative, President Mahama said its implementation must be transparent, with motorists adequately informed about the locations of the cameras.

He specifically urged the police and the agencies responsible for TraffiTech-GH to install visible signposts ahead of camera locations to alert drivers that they were approaching monitored sections of the road.

He said advance notification would help motorists understand where the technology was deployed and encourage compliance with speed limits.

"All I will urge is that the police and those implementing Traffitech should put up signs showing where the cameras are, because that is one of the things you need to do if you are introducing this kind of innovation. You need to put signposts, warning motorists, that there is a speed camera ahead. I think that transparency is important," he said.

The directive, he indicated, was intended to ensure that the introduction of technology-driven enforcement was accompanied by openness and adequate public information.

On complaints that the fines imposed under the TraffiTech-GH system were too high, the president urged motorists to avoid the penalties by observing prescribed speed limits.

He maintained that drivers who complied with traffic regulations would have no reason to incur speeding fines.

"If it is too expensive, then don't overspeed; that's all, there is a solution to it," he said.

The TraffiTech-GH system is expected to strengthen enforcement of road traffic regulations through automated monitoring, with speeding enforcement forming the initial phase. Other violations, including running red lights and illegal parking, are also envisaged under the broader system.

President Mahama's defence of the initiative places the protection of schoolchildren and other vulnerable road users at the centre of the debate, as the government seeks to use technology to address dangerous driving and reduce preventable deaths on Ghana's roads.