105 motorists arrested — For flouting traffic regulations

A total of 105 motorists who flouted road traffic regulations last weekend were arrested as part of police operations to clamp down road traffic accidents that had been claiming lives on major highways in the country.

The motorists were arrested on the Accra-Cape Coast road, Takoradi Highway and the Yamoransa-Kumasi roads and are being processed for court.

According to the Director-General of the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), DCOP Awuni Angwubutoge, the arrest followed a special operation carried out in collaboration with the regional commanders of the Central and Western regions last weekend.

Briefing The Mirror about their operations, he said while 36 motorists were arrested on the Accra-Cape Coast road, 33 were arrested on the Takoradi Highway and 36 were arrested on the Yamoransa-Kumasi stretch.

He said offences that led to their arrest included the use of vehicles with expired roadworthy certificates, driving without licence, use of broken driving mirrors and windscreens using vehicles with worn-out tyres, defective brakes, fake driving licences and driving without fire extinguishers.

Expressing concern about the attitudes of some motorists, he said their failure to observe road traffic regulations had been causing avoidable accidents on the highways, many of which had led to the deaths of innocent road users and maimed many others.

He also said the absence of MTTD officers on the highways for some time had also contributed to the upsurge of accidents on the highways and gave the assurance that the MTTD would make their presence felt on the highways by arresting and prosecuting recalcitrant motorists.

“Motorists seem to have a field day on the highways because the MTTD has been off the road for some time, but we are back to bring sanity on the road,” he noted.