Speaking on phone via bluetooth while driving is not an offence, but holding it while driving is… – Police clarify

The Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) has clarified that speaking on a mobile phone via a bluetooth system while either on a handsfree or a vehicle’s wireless phone network while driving does not infringe the law.

But there is a risk of infringing the law if that behaviour includes holding or operating the mobile phone while behind the wheel in a way such that it interferes with concentration or the driving.

The Director in charge of Education, Research and Training at the MTTD, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Alexander Kwaku Obeng, gave the clarification in a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Accra based Joy 99.7 FM on Wednesday, morning (October 28, 2026).

The clarification follows remarks by the Programmes Manager of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) in the Ashanti Region, Samuel Adu Gyimah, who had said on Tuesday (October 26, 2026) that drivers who made phone calls or used car Bluetooth while driving would be arrested under the newly introduced camera system (Traffitech) in traffic rules enforcement.

ACP Obeng said there was no law prohibiting drivers from talking while driving, adding that freedom of speech was constitutionally guaranteed and could not be taken away by the regulations.

He explained that the regulations required drivers to keep both hands on the steering wheel and their eyes on the road.

He said holding and operating a phone while driving posed a risk because it could take a driver’s hand off the steering wheel and divert attention from the road.

ACP Obeng stressed that using bluetooth was not an offence in itself.

He cautioned, though, that touching or repeatedly handling a device while driving could amount to distracted driving.

Regulation 132 of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2519), prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle on a road or in a public place while holding, using or operating a cellular or mobile telephone or any other communication device in one or both hands.

The regulation allows drivers to contact the Police, Fire Service or another emergency service when stopping is unsafe or impracticable.

A person who breaches the provision is liable, upon summary conviction, to a fine of up to 50 penalty units, imprisonment for up to three months, or both.

With each penalty unit valued at GH¢12, the maximum fine is GH¢600.