Police Review Ban On Trucks At Night

The Ashanti Regional Police has reviewed the time during which heavy duty trucks can operate in the region.

The  trucks, which had hitherto been limited to operate with the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. can now work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The ban on heavy duty vehicles was imposed by the Ashanti regional police in July this year as a result of rampant accidents on the roads leading to loss of lives.

The ban had seriously affected the work of heavy duty truck drivers who petitioned the Police Regional Commander, Mr Kweku Opare-Addo, to review it.

Mr Opare-Addo, announced the review at a meeting with the Ashanti Regional Minister, Emmanuel Asamoah Owusu-Ansah, and members of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Haulage Transport Drivers Association (GHDTA) in Kumasi on Monday.

He stated that most accidents on the roads were caused by heavy duty vehicles and they normally occurred between Kumasi and Accra especially in the Juaso area and said the ban was therefore to check and minimise the accidents to save lives.

Mr Opare-Addo said the decision to review the ban was in the interest of the people, however, he warned the association to educate their members on the causes of accidents such as over-speeding, over-taking and overloading.

The Police Commander stated that curbing accidents should not be the responsibility of the police alone and urged the public to help check the menace.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Emmanuel Owusu-Ansah, said the law has no respect for persons and stressed the need for people to abide by laws to maintain peace, order and harmony in the country.

He said the fact that the ban has been reviewed should not make drivers swollen headed and asked them to adopt effective measures to curb road accidents as Christmas is approaching.

The Regional Minister appealed to the association to organise in-service training courses for its members to sensitise them on the need to avoid accidents.

Mr Asiedu Ber-chie, regional chairman of  the association, thank the Police Commander and the minister for responding to their request and pledged to educate their members through road safety campaigns to reduce the increasing spate of road accidents.