Spot fines for minor traffic offences are to be introduced by the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police from next month (May).
Failure to renew driving license, driving on the shoulders of the road, failure to use seat belt, the use of communication device, among similar offences, will fall under the spot fine system.
The use of the spot fine system is intended to quicken the administration of justice for minor traffic offenders and also help increase compliance with road traffic regulations and reduce indiscipline acts by drivers.
Countries such as Germany, Portugal, France, Austria, United Kingdom, The Gambia and Malawi implement the system.
The Director of the MTTU, ACP Mr Angwubotoge Awuni, announced this at a first Stakeholders Consultation Workshop to discuss the implementation of the spot fines in Accra Wednesday.
The spot fine is regulated by Legislative Instrument 2180, 2012.
Regulation 157 of LI 2180 states that “a person who commits a road traffic offence specified in the Seventh Schedule is liable to pay a spot fine. Where a person commits a road traffic offence which attracts a spot fine, a police officer in whose presence the offence was committed shall issue that person with a spot fine notice and record the offence in the counterpart driver’s license (booklet for recording road violations) of that persons.
Mr Awuni said the implementation of the spot fine would be piloted in Accra, Tema and some parts of the Ashanti Region from May before being extended to the other regions.
He explained that the spot fine would also reduce pressure on the police and the courts with respect to the processing and adjudicating minor traffic offences.
“It would also generate enormous non-tax revenue to supplement government’s tax revenue,” he said.
Mr Awuni stated that a spot fine ticket would be issued by trained police officers in uniform and police officers of the rank of an Inspector or above at the various stations.
He explained that offenders would be given tickets after filling the requisite forms and said that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) had made provisions to deal with the issue of fake receipts.
A former Director of the Ministry of Transport, Mr E. A. Kwakye, who chaired the programme, urged the Ghana Police Service to resource the MTTU with the necessary logistics and human resources to enable the unit discharge its duties efficiently.
He expressed the hope that funds from the fines would be used to resource the MTTU to enhance the work of the personnel.