Monday, January 31, 2011

HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS BANNED... After 6p.m. country-wide (LEAD STORY, JAN 29, 2011)

Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi

THE Police Administration has banned the movement of heavy duty trucks country-wide after 6 p.m. as part of measures to curb the carnage on the country’s roads.
After 6 p.m., all checkpoints across the country are supposed to order every heavy duty truck to park and display triangles and reflectors till 6 a.m. the following day.
These were contained in a directive from the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, to all Regional Police Commanders in the country.
The directive said the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service, in collaboration with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), was also to conduct a thorough examination of all trucks and offenders should be prosecuted.
It said all long heavy duty and cargo trucks were supposed to park before 6 p.m. in an acceptable manner and completely off the road with enough reflectors to warn other road users.
Regional commanders across the country, it said, were to ensure strict enforcement of the directive, adding that offenders should be dealt with in accordance with the law.
It also directed regional commands to come up with special operations on Fridays to ensure that the roads were free from careless parking and driving.
The Western Regional Police Commander, Alhaji Hamidu Mahama, told the Daily Graphic that the directive indicated that there were various rest spots on the highways and that drivers should be mindful of the time to ensure that they pull over to these places before 6 p.m. and park safely till the following day.
He said the enforcement of the directive in the region started yesterday.
“Today we pulled over 200 vehicles before 6 p.m. and ensured that they parked safely,” he said.
Alhaji Mahama noted that most of the drivers who were stopped looked tired.

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