Road Safety Commission wages war…on use of fog, auxiliary lights

THE ASHANTI Regional Road Safety Committee, acting on the directives of the National Road Safety Commission, has successfully embarked on a joint-exercise with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), and the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), to have motorists remove fog and other auxiliary lights.

The exercise is expected to be a nationwide one Fog lights are being used indiscriminately, with very little regard to the provisions in the Traffic regulations, and are said to be causing hazards on the highways.

The Commission noted that the irresponsible use of such lights, blind other road users, which often leads to road accidents.

The team, led by Mr. Kwaku Oware-Boateng, the Regional Co-ordinator of the Committee, mounted the exercise on the Kumasi-Obuasi, Kumasi-Offinso, Kumasi-Mampong and Kumasi-Konongo roads, as well as Kejetia to Asafo, in Kumasi, over a period of one month.

The directive followed the realization that heavy duty vehicles and buses flout regulations regarding the use of fog lights, by installing fog and other lights, more than the legally permissible number to be used.

The Road Traffic regulations 1974, per Legislative Instrument 953 sub-regulations 6, 7, and 8, state in part that a motor vehicle fitted with a pair of driving lamps, designed to provided general illumination, may also be fitted with one or two auxiliary spot or flood lamps, but these shall not exceed four.

The provisions of the Traffic Regulation referred to, as well stated that no driving lamp shall be placed so as to project above the bottom of the frame of the windscreen.