The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) will no longer register new vehicles with no seatbelts for passengers.
This takes effect from September 2014.
According to Rudolph Beckley, Acting Chief Executive of the DVLA, the decision not to register commercial vehicles without seatbelts was in conformity with Section 119 of the Road Traffic Regulation Legislative Instrument (LI) 2180.
He emphasized that the implementation of the LI on the use of seatbelts was to achieve a 50 percent reduction in deaths and serious injuries associated with vehicle accidents by 2020.
In an interview with Citi News, Mr. Beckley disclosed that all the necessary and relevant structures have been put in place for this exercise to be a success.
He said, the DVLA was collaborating with the National Road Safety Commission, the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA), and the Tiger Transport Association to carry out the exercise.
The LI 2180 was passed in Parliament in 2012 and gives a two-year grace period for all commercial vehicles to have seatbelts in place for each passenger.
“The DVLA will from March 2015, refuse to renew the road worthiness of all commercial vehicles which did not have seatbelts fitted to each seat” he added.
By: Afari Kumi Obed/citifmonline.com/Ghana