Traffic-Tech-Ghana: Why Speed Cameras Must Be Matched With Speed Limit Road Signs

The Ghana Police Service's introduction of TraffiTech-GH is undoubtedly a welcome development in the country's efforts to reduce road accidents, improve driver behavior, and promote greater discipline on the roads. For many years, road safety advocates, including myself, have written many articles and called for the use of modern technology to enforce traffic regulations.

Therefore, I am pleased to see Ghana embracing automated traffic enforcement systems that are common in many advanced countries. However, while the government's objective is admirable, the implementation raises important concerns that must be addressed if the system is to be fair, transparent, and effective.

The fundamental purpose of speed enforcement is not to punish motorists or generate revenue. Its primary objective should be to save lives by encouraging drivers to obey speed limits. This objective can only be achieved when motorists are clearly informed of the speed limits that apply to the roads on which they are travelling.

A critical question therefore arises: How can drivers be expected to comply with a speed limit if there are no visible speed limit road signs informing them of the maximum permitted speed? In Belgium and many other European countries, speed limits are clearly displayed through road signs. Drivers encounter signs indicating 30 km/h in school zones, 50 km/h in urban areas, 90 km/h on certain regional roads, and 120 km/h on motorways.

Yet despite the widespread presence of these signs, many motorists still receive speeding fines because they occasionally fail to notice or remember the applicable limit. If drivers in countries with excellent road signage sometimes make mistakes, one can imagine the difficulties facing motorists on roads where speed signs are missing, damaged, hidden, or insufficiently displayed.

Road safety enforcement must be based on fairness. Motorists should not be placed in a situation where cameras are ready to detect violations while the information needed to avoid those violations is absent. Technology should guide drivers before it punishes them.

The government should therefore ensure that every road section monitored by speed cameras has clearly visible and well-maintained speed limit signs positioned at appropriate intervals. School zones, residential neighborhoods, market areas, highways, and motorways should all display unmistakable speed restrictions that drivers can easily see both during the day and at night.

Furthermore, a nationwide public education campaign should accompany the enforcement program. Drivers should know the applicable speed limits, understand how the camera system works, and be informed of their right to challenge penalties if they believe an error has occurred.

Many Ghanaians support the system, while others aren’t happy, not because of its implementation but because there aren’t any speed limit road signs to warn motorists. They are right. Strong enforcement is necessary. Nevertheless, enforcement must go hand in hand with proper infrastructure. Drivers should never feel that traffic cameras exist merely to collect money from them.

Rather, they should view the system as a legitimate tool designed to protect lives and make roads safer. The government has taken an important step by introducing modern traffic enforcement technology. However, before asking motorists to pay fines, authorities must ensure that speed limits are clearly communicated through visible signs throughout the country.

A camera can detect a violation, but only a sign can tell a driver how to avoid committing one. If Ghana wishes to build a road safety culture based on respect, compliance, and public confidence, then clear signage must come before punishment. Anything less risks turning a commendable safety initiative into a source of public frustration and mistrust.