Penalties for road traffic offenses not deterrent enough – Road Safety Authority

The Head of Regulations, Inspections and Compliance at the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Kwame Koduah Atuahene, has said that penalties for offenses on the road are not deterrent enough.

He posits that these penalties need to be stiffer to check misconduct on the road.

He has thus advocated for the need to revise the already existing penalties for road traffic offenses.

Mr. Atuahene made this known during the Happy Development Dialogues hosted by Happy FM’s Don Prah.

Speaking under the theme, ‘Road Safety: A Stakeholders Dialogue on Ensuring Safety on Our Roads’, he said, “There are quite a number of constraints in the penalty system. For example, fines are not deterrent enough. Say if a driver continues to drive even though he or she may be fatigued, such a person’s fine is only about GH₵120.00. I believe the mild penalties contribute to the continuous misconduct on our roads.”

As of October this year, the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) recorded 573 road traffic offenses. Out of the 573 cases, 504 were sent to the courts, where 415 offenders were convicted. The total amount of fines collected for the month of October was GH¢236,030.

Under the Road Traffic Act, 2004 (Act 683), any offense relating to license attracts a fine of not less than fifty penalty units and not exceeding one hundred penalty units or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.

Global Media Alliance Broadcasting Company (GMABC) has dedicated the months of November and December to share educative and informative discussions on all issues that focus on road safety and automobiles.