The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), believes the Motor Traffic and Transport Division (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, should be stopping and arresting drivers in rickety vehicles, to help in the effort to reduce road accidents.
In an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, the Public Relations Officer of the DVLA, Kwaku Darko Afari, explained that, DVLA’s mandate, as far as road safety is concerned, does not cover cars plying the road after being assessed and issued roadworthy stickers.
His comments came on the back of a weekend that saw two car crashes leaving a total of 19 persons dead, with 12 injured at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, and Gomoa Mpromem in the Central Region.
Mr. Darko Afari explained that, the causal factors of accidents ultimately comes down to the driver, roads or the vehicle, with the DVLA having some measure of control over the drivers and the state of vehicles.
Since 2011, the DVLA has introduced private vehicle test stations, 13 nationwide, on a Private Public Partnership basis to improve vehicle, Mr. Darko Afari noted, as some of the improvements on his outfit’s side to improve testing procedures and road safety.
He however admitted there were some people who managed to seep through the cracks and get road worthy documents, sometimes fake.
Mr. Darko Afari also said police were also better placed to investigate the sources of the counterfeit road worthy documents and provide a lasting solution to the problem “when the driver of such vehicles are arrested.”
“As soon as that happens, it pushes into the domain of the MTTD who have a secondary responsibility for road safety and who can enforce.
If they see a vehicle that does not look like one that should ply our roads, it is their responsibility to quickly arrest the driver and check whether the road worthy is even genuine in the first place. And if it is not genuine, prosecute the person so that it serves as a deterrent to others who might want to do same.
When it comes to that, enforcement comes in. So we need to do our bit and the Police MTTD has to do its bit to try and find out if a vehicle is in a poor state.”
“Our responsibilities don’t go that far. Our powers end just after the vehicles and drivers leave our offices. So I am saying that the MTTD officers are always on our roads, and when they see these rickety vehicles, they should arrest them. If it gets to the point where we have to reexamine them again then we take it up.”
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