I take my life into my hands every time I cross the Bolgatanga Road....

I witnessed my first road traffic accident this morning. I'm surprised it took so long when trucks, buses, taxis, private vehicles, bicycles, motorcyclists, and pedestrians all share a small two-lane highway with a wide shoulder. A taxi was pulling out of my street into on coming traffic and hit the back of a motorcycle that clearly had the right of way.

Luckily, the motorcyclist was not injured and both pulled over on the shoulder to try and settle the dispute. Of course the taxi driver leaves half his vehicle still in the middle of the main road making it difficult for traffic to pass and for bicyclists to pass on the shoulder. Genius, I assure you.

It's no wonder that road traffic accidents are a leading cause of premature mortality in developing countries. Emergency care is certainly not the same caliber as in developed nations and the streets are not capable of handling the flow of increasing traffic.

On another note, we were disappointed yesterday when Ghana lost to Brazil. Not surprising, but the streets were terribly quite after the game finished around 5pm. The country is still proud of their Black Stars and is anxiously awaiting the African Cup (held in Ghana in 2008) to prove their football achievements.