According to Roadsafe Salone, there are variation in the data of road crashes in Sierra Leone presented by the Sierra Leone Roads Safety Authority (SLRA) and the Sierra Leone Police (SLP).

Roadsafe Salone noted that SLRSA recently reported that there were 9,623 road crashes in Sierra Leone from January to September 2022. Of these, there were 225 fatalities involving 95 male and 135 female.

On Tuesday, 22 September, the Sierra Leone Police presented its own data, which states that:

January – September 2022

• Total number of road crashes – 3,463

• Freetown West 1,218

• Freetown East 1,678

• North West Region 163

• North East Region 80

• South Region 62

• East Region 264

Fatalities

• Freetown East 27 male & 115 female

• Freetown West 48 male & 29 female

• North West Region 41 male & 13 female

• North East Region 45 male & 11 female

• South Region 15 male & 2 female

East Region 43 male & 11 female

Total of seriously injured victims 897.

“From the above statistical analysis, it clearly shows that the two institutions charged with the responsibility for collecting road crash data have variations in the data presented to the public,” Road Salone stated.

They therefore noted that there is a need to consolidate these figures so that they can have credible data on road crashes to be able to proffer solutions to this serious menace in the country.

According to Roadsafe Salone, this can be achieved through technical support and guidance from Statistics Sierra Leone, adding that, there are three sources to collect data which are; Police accident reports, hospital records, and insurance claims.

“It is time that modalities are put in place for credible data capture, consolidation, and verification,” Roadsafe Salone stated.