Police Gets Tough On Motor Traffic Offenders

Accra, Aug13, - An Accra traffic tribunal today fined a number of drivers for various traffic offences in the city. Police told the GNA 14 out of the 15 offenders were fined 150,000 cedis each for variously parking and stopping at unauthorized places and picking passengers elsewhere. The tribunal ordered the police to investigate how the 15th driver, who told the tribunal that the road sign 'H' meant 'I should go straight' instead of 'Hospital', got his licence. Deputy Commissioner of Police Mustapha Garbah, Commanding Officer of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit(MTTU), said his outfit had proposed the payment of a spot fine by drivers who break traffic regulations. He expressed concern particularly about the behaviour of drivers who fail to observe traffic lights, saying plain-clothes traffic police have been detailed to check them. Mr Garbah said about 45 of such offenders were recorded last week and have been asked to report at the MTTU office. He said owners of three of the vehicles whose offending drivers have absconded following the radio announcement have reported. Giving statistics, the Commanding Officer said the Unit recorded 556 traffic light offenders in two days last July. He observed that, with the rehabilitation of roads in the city, it is feared drivers would tend to speed and thus commit more traffic offences. ''We need cameras at the traffic lights for effective check on such culprits. We lack the requisite equipment with which my men can deliver the goods,'' Mr Garbah said.