Accident Hotspot Mapping

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) and its associated injuries are one of the major causes of death in developing countries. Some researchers blame illiteracy especially among commercial drivers while others mention the poor nature of the road as the cause of this menace. In recent years, road traffic accidents in Ghana have become a major social problem in the world as one writer put it " carriage without horses shall go and accident fill the world with woe ". The main objective of this study is to analyze the pattern of road traffic accidents in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Non-spatial/secondary data collection was used to obtain information on the location, the vehicle type, casualties, time and causes of the road accidents. One common feature is to assess information on RTAs. This study is therefore committed to explore issues surrounding road traffic accidents in Ghana with much emphasis on the Cape Coast Metropolitan area using Geographic Information System (GIS). Secondary data was used in obtaining the sample data. Data was collected directly from the record books of the MTTU in Cape Coast, a branch of the Ghana Police Service. Data was analyzed and interpreted with the aid of SPSS v. 21 and Arc GIS 10.3 versions. After the analysis, the study revealed that, 9 hotspots locations which were identified were comparatively competitive to each order. On a scale, the highest of all the hotspot intensity is Pedu Junction which recorded 33 cases followed by UCC East Gate which is responsible for about 30 counts. Morree Junction together with Nkanfoa/Third Ridge Junction recorded the same counts which are 22 each while Yamoransa Junction, Kotokuraba and Siwdu accounted for 21, 20 and 18 respectively. Kingsway and Abura recorded 15 occurrences each on a range. Finally, it was found out that most of the vehicles involved in road traffic accidents were private vehicles which numbered up to 232 cars making a share of (50.5%) out of the total of 459 vehicles. Hotspot locations and road traffic accident fatalities were mapped using GIS ArcMap/View.