Automated system to enforce road traffic laws launched

By Christabel Oboshie ANNAN, Accra

The Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service in collaboration with the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has held its first stakeholders meeting on a project dubbed Traffitech-Ghana (Traffitech-GH)

Traffitech-GH is an automated system developed to enforce road traffic laws and regulations to improve road safety in the country.

The meeting was to  informed stakeholders of the project and also help in the sensitization of automating traffic law enforcement operations in the country.

Director-General of Police MTTD, Commissioner of Police (COP) Francis Doku said as the nation moves towards digitalization, the Ghana Police Service is developing an automated system for managing and enforcing traffic rules.

He stated that given the current road safety problem faced by the nation, the automated system will strengthen the capacity of enforcing road traffic laws in the country.

“It is known through global practice that automating traffic law enforcement has resulted in high compliance in road traffic laws and maintaining public order on public road network” he stressed.

COP Doku noted that with the implementation of Traffitech- Ghana, the police through the MTTD will deploy traffic enforcement cameras to detect, apprehend and prosecute traffic offenders to improve public safety in the country.

He indicated that Traffitech-GH will assist in the imposition of suitable automated fines with a goal to enhancing deterrence and Compliance within the road network.

“Traffitech-GH is important to maintain social order within the communities with the view to protect public trust in the police, facilitate law abiding behaviours, foster compliance and Corporation and increase the rate of detecting road traffic offenses,” he stressed.

The Director-General, MTTD noted that in line with the dictates of the project, the MTTD with support from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) among other partners is rolling out a system with the view to change road user behaviour.

He said that the sensitization will go across the whole of Ghana to help citizens to be well informed of the project.

He added that along side the sensitization, the police will pilot the project in Tema, Accra, and Kumasi before rolling it out to other regions once they were confident that the public has been adequately informed.

“We’ll want to look at three months of sensitisation before we start the piloting,” he said.

COP Francis is confident  the intervention will help build trust between citizens and the police.

The Project Coordinator for Traffitech-GH, Chief Superintendent Alexander Obeng, revealed that the automated system will use cameras and sensors to automatically take a picture and video of vehicles that flout road traffic laws and regulations such as speeding and jumping of red-light.

He said that Traffitech-GH will deploy fixed mobile/in-vehicle and radar gun devices to capture amongst others speeding, and jumping red-light.

“Pictures and videos recorded of the offence, are automatically transmitted to a back office, for validation and issuance of a notification by SMD to the vehicle owner for payment.

Other traffic offences that will be enforced under Traffitech-GH are expired road worthiness certificate, wrongful overtaking, non-use of seat belts, use of phones while driving, use of expired license, driving with an uninsured vehicle, abuse of siren among others” he explained.