The Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service has issued a stern warning to drivers who consistently violate road traffic regulations. With the new road traffic legislative instrument set to take effect, drivers who break traffic rules will face severe consequences, including being barred from accessing the services of the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and risking license suspension.
As part of the enforcement measures, offenders will no longer be stopped on highways. Instead, they will receive notifications of their offenses via SMS on their mobile phones and will be required to pay a fine.
Chief Superintendent Alex Kwaku Obeng, Director of Research and Education at the MTTD, revealed that a trial of the automated road traffic regulation system caught 1,800 drivers violating road regulations on the Accra-Cape Coast stretch. He made these remarks during the 7th Annual Conference of the Ghana National Association of Driving Schools in Koforidua, Eastern Region.
Chief Superintendent Obeng highlighted the country’s road safety challenges, emphasizing the need for stakeholder collaboration to address these issues effectively. “From January to April this year, we recorded 4,503 road crashes on our roads. Vehicle owners in Ghana have had 7,641 of their vehicles crashed, resulting in 4,955 Ghanaians facing various degrees of injuries,” he noted.
With the December general election approaching, Chief Superintendent Obeng cautioned motorists about the increasing risk of road crashes, pointing to a negative trend of fatalities associated with election periods. “This conference is timely, knowing very well that we are entering an election season. We know that during such periods, unusual road users come on the road. Accidents are preventable. We have our strategy of stakeholder collaboration that delivers road safety management. We have the National Road Safety Authority and other stakeholders strategising together,” he said.
