Bring Police Back to Road Hotspots — NRSA Boss

By Esther Korantemaa Offei

The Director-General of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Abraham Amaliba, has called for the return of police personnel to road crash hotspots to curb speeding and prevent further loss of lives.

His call follows the recent Ofankor Barrier accident and other road crashes recorded on major highways, which have raised renewed concerns about speeding and weak enforcement of traffic regulations.

Speaking on the need for stronger measures to improve road safety, Amaliba said the police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) must be deployed to locations where road crashes occur frequently.

“On the highway, I have called on the police MTTD to return the police back onto the road, particularly areas we call hotspots,” he said.

According to him, hotspots are areas where crashes occur frequently and the presence of police officers could serve as a deterrent to motorists who drive at excessive speeds.

“If you are not bringing them back to the entire road, bring them back to the hotspots because people do what you expect. So when they see a policeman there, they will lower their speed,” Amaliba said.

He expressed concern that despite repeated calls for increased police presence on the roads, the MTTD had yet to fully respond to his appeal.

Amaliba acknowledged that public education remained important in reducing road crashes but stressed that education alone could not address the growing problem.

“Education is also paramount, but we cannot continue educating, educating until that cannot come. Now, at that point, you need to enforce,” he said.

He described the approach as a combination of incentives and sanctions, insisting that enforcement was necessary to complement road safety education.

The NRSA Director-General said concerns about alleged harassment and extortion by some police officers should not result in the complete withdrawal of personnel from the roads.

“My understanding was that when I first took over the office was that Dampari indicated that they were extorting and harassing drivers, and so they are withdrawing them,” he said.

“But it is better to have the police on the road while they harass drivers than to just take them off,” Amaliba added.

He warned that removing police officers from major roads could encourage motorists to drive recklessly.

“When you take them off, drivers now feel that it’s like a Formula One track. They will speed and some of these things will happen,” he said.

Amaliba noted that a traffic technology system is expected to be rolled out next year, but stressed that immediate action was needed because lives were being lost.

“People are dying. Let’s bring back the police to the hotspots to deal with this matter,” he said.