No commercial vehicle passes DVLA’s seatbelt test


Not a single commercial bus (trotro) vehicle has passed the mandatory seatbelt test since the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority started enforcing the law on September 1.

The Licensing Authority says owners of such vehicles would be prosecuted from January 2015 if they failed to provide seatbelts. It forms part of the national strategy to reduce mortality on the road by at least 50%.

People try to feel how comfortable will be in (Trotro) seat belt

Latest to fail the test on Thursday, is a Mercedes Benz vehicle, Sprinter 210 model sent to the DVLA premises by technicians of Top Friends Motors, a garage operating at Caprice, in Accra.

The bus had the belts fixed to their seats but yet failed the test.

Some people taking a look at the new commercial vehicle seat belts.

The reason given by the officers who examined the bus was that the seats on the bus had been increased by two to make it 21 instead of 19.

They also insisted the spacing between the seats must be 70 centimetres which was not so in the case of this bus.

The testing officers further observed, the seat on which the driver’s mate sits, does not have a belt.

Currently, it costs between GHȼ450 and GHȼ500 to have the seatbelts fixed in a 19-sitter bus and a mini-bus respectively.

Meanwhile, commercial drivers operating at the transport terminal at the 37 Military Hospital area say they are yet to be taken through any sensitization exercise on the enforcement of the law.

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