BAN ON IMPORTATION AND USE OF SUBSTANDARD TYRES NEXT MONTH

Tyres being used for demonstration at the forum

From the first of next month, the new traffic regulations, Regulation 62 of L.I. 2180 will come into full effect. Regulation 62 is about the specific legal requirement of the caliber of tyres that will be permitted entry into, and use in Ghana such that a lorry tyre in use whose features are contrary to specifications in the law will be considered illegal and dangerous to human safety. 

As part of measures to engender wider acceptance and ownership of the process during the implementation, the National Road Safety Commission, NRSC, and its collaborators have organized a day’s stakeholders’ sensitization workshop for major players in road transportation in Kumasi. 

The event was well patronized by vehicle tyre importers, vulcanizers, drivers, Police and Customs officials. 

Ing. May Obiri-Yeboah addressing the participants

In an address, the Executive Director of the NRSC, Ingineer Mrs. May Obiri-Yeboah was emphatic that road traffic accidents alone kills more people in Ghana than cholera, armed robbery attacks and even AIDS combined in a given year. 

The causes of these road crashes, according to her are attributable to many factors including the use of inappropriate lorry tyres.

 The Planning Officer of the NRSC, David Sarfo Adonteng, who took the participants through the various specifications and features 

on lorry tyres and their meanings, disclosed that 75 percent of lorry tyres in use in Ghana now are second hand with 30 percent of them posing safety risks to road users.

 Mr. Adonteng noted also that 15 percent of between two thousand and three thousand vehicles which get involved in accident in the country had some lorry tyre defects which are blamable for the accidents. 

The NRSC Planning Officer stressed that the new Traffic Regulation is not meant to stop the importation or use of second hand tyres in the country, but to stop the use of substandard lorry tyres and the related fatalities.

 It is therefore imperative for all Ghanaians to support the new traffic law to succeed. 

The Research and Education Officer of the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department, DSP Alexander Obeng also disclosed that last month alone, a total of 811 road accidents that involved one thousand, 289 vehicles were recorded across the country. 

These accidents resulted in the death of 102 persons while 644 others sustained various degrees of injury. 

DSP Obeng also took the participants through the new Traffic Regulation and urged particularly the vulcanizers who are well versed in lorry tyre features, to guide their customers to make good choices in how to handle their tyres.