NRSA rolls out speed limit technology mid-year
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) will roll out traffic tech, a technology-driven road traffic enforcement initiative by the end of the second quarter of this year.
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The automated speed limit enforcement programme will be operationalised using cameras that have been mounted at vantage points on the country’s roads and highways.
The Director for Planning and Programmes at the NRSA, Martin Owusu Afram, who made this known to the Daily Graphic on February 5, said the programme was being implemented as part of the Stay Alive initiative meant to reduce carnage on the road.
Mr Afram led a team from the NRSA and the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service to enforce road traffic regulations on the Suhum-Koforidua stretch of the N4 Highway, where the speed levels of drivers were tested to ensure compliance.
Timelines
He explained that at the moment, the NRSA was going on with sensitisation and awareness creation of the need for drivers to adhere strictly to speed limits before the traffic tech initiative was rolled out.
Mr Afram said the driver would then be required to pay a fine, "and if you fail to do so, it will attract stiffer sanctions."
He added that the NRSA was collaborating with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) for a smooth takeoff of the programme.
"Every vehicle is registered with the DVLA, so we are collaborating with them to identify every motorist on the road," he said.
The three-hour enforcement exercise on the Suhum-Koforidua highway started around 10 a.m.
Officials of the NRSA and the police jointly educated drivers, while errant ones were processed for court.
The team mounted cameras ahead of the operation area to capture the speed of drivers 200 metres away.
The cameras recorded the behaviour of the drivers 200 metres away, captured the number plates, and speed at which they were travelling, as well as those without seat belts fastened.
The information was relayed to the NRSA and police officers who then stopped the drivers to either sensitise them to the implications of their behaviours or process them for court in extreme cases.
Mr Afram told the Daily Graphic that the data the team had gathered indicated that some people were driving at 149 kilometres per hour (kph) in 80 kph sections of the road, while others were travelling at about 90 kilometres in a-50kmh zone.
"This situation tells us that speeding remains a major concern if we are to reduce carnage on the road," he said.
He added that the survey the NRSA carried out on speeding by drivers had been confirmed by the figures recorded during the enforcement exercise.
"We have seen here today that indeed, over 70 per cent of drivers drive beyond the required speed limits on our highways," he said.
Speeding
Mr Afram said speeding was a major concern to the NRSA because it accounted for 60 per cent of road crashes in the country.
He said it was worrying that although the authority had set speed limits for various zones on the road, over 70 per cent of drivers flouted that regulation by driving beyond the speed limits.
