Towing levy put on hold - Pending review of parts of the law
Following extensive consultations between the Ministry of Transport and stakeholders in the transport sector, the government has decided not to implement the mandatory towing levy scheduled to have started on July 1, 2017.
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A statement signed by the Minister of Transport, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, and issued in Accra yesterday, said the government had decided to seek a review of parts of Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2180 (Road Traffic Regulations, 2012).
It said the review would seek to remove from the law specifically the concept of mandatory towing levy on all owners and persons in charge of motor vehicles and trailers and also limit the role of the government in the provision of towing services for only licensing and regulating service providers.
In 2012, Parliament passed L.I. 2180.
Regulation 102 (3) of L.I. 2180 imposes a mandatory levy on all owners and persons in charge of motor vehicles for the purpose of towing breakdown or disabled vehicles from the roads.
Based on that, the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) announced that the L.I. would be implemented from July 1, 2017.
That was, however, met with public outcry and calls on the government to review the mandatory towing levy, as a result of which the government decided to hold extensive consultations with stakeholders in the transport sector, after which has decided to back down on the implementation of the mandatory towing levy.
The statement pledged the commitment of the government to the position that breakdown vehicles ought to be removed from the roads to avert accidents.
“New modalities for dealing with the problem of breakdown or disabled vehicles will be formulated and announced in due course,” it stated.
Breakdown vehicles
Statistics available at the NRSC indicate that 21 per cent of road accidents are caused by abandoned breakdown vehicles on the roads.
According to the commission, six persons died daily through road accidents, while an estimated 1,800 died yearly on the roads.
By the end of November 2016, 11,378 road accidents had been recorded, involving 17,746 vehicles and 12,154 casualties.
Of the casualties, 1,990 lives were lost, while 10,154 sustained various degrees of injury.
The NRSC said statistics available also indicated that out of 10,852 crashes recorded in 2015, involving 16,958 vehicles, 1,634 deaths were recorded.
Accidents resulting from drivers running into abandoned vehicles are now new — in February this year alone, at least nine people died through such accidents.
February 22, 2017
A former Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Dr Kofi Asare, reportedly drove his car into an abandoned articulated truck in a curve on the Abetifi-Agogo trunk road.
February 12, 2017
At least eight people were reported dead and 11 others injured in a ghastly accident that occurred at Ewusiejoe, near Agona Nkwanta in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region.
Eyewitnesses said a bus, which was carrying mourners from a funeral in Takoradi, rolled over several times and rammed into a mini bus parked on the ears of the road after an overtaking manoeuvre that went bad.
Agreement
In 2011, the the Road Safety Management Services Limited (RSMSL) was awarded a contract to tow breakdown vehicles from the roads.
The company went ahead to sign an agreement with the NRSC to that effect in 2013.
About 118 towing trucks were acquired by the RSMSL for the national towing service.