MTTD Cracks Down on Unauthorised Use of Sirens and Emergency Lights on Kasoa-Winneba Highway

Ghana’s roads have long been plagued by a particular breed of impunity: drivers who install sirens and emergency lights on their vehicles, not because they serve any public safety function, but because these devices grant them an unofficial right to bully other motorists out of the way. On May 30, the Central East Regional Motor Traffic and Transport Department decided enough was enough.

During a special enforcement exercise at Budumburam along the Kasoa-Winneba Highway, MTTD officers arrested 13 drivers found operating vehicles fitted with unauthorised sirens and emergency lamps. The operation, part of a broader campaign to restore order on one of the country’s busiest commuter corridors, sent a clear signal: the era of looking the other way may be drawing to a close.

A Culture of Road Impunity

The unauthorised use of sirens is not a minor infraction. It is a symptom of a deeper culture in which certain individuals consider themselves above the rules that govern everyone else. Politicians, business executives, religious leaders and even ordinary citizens have been known to fit their vehicles with flashing lights and wailing sirens, weaving through traffic at dangerous speeds while other drivers scramble to get out of their way.

The practice endangers lives. When a driver hears a siren, the natural instinct is to pull over or make way. If the vehicle producing that sound is not an ambulance, fire truck or police car, but rather a private citizen in a hurry, the resulting confusion can cause accidents, near-misses and a general erosion of trust in genuine emergency signals.

Regulations 65 and 74 of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180) are explicit about who may use such equipment. The law exists for good reason. Emergency lights and sirens are tools of public safety, not accessories of status. When they are misused, they cheapen the authority of genuine emergency services and put every other road user at risk.

Enforcement as Deterrent

The MTTD Task Force did not simply arrest the offenders. Officers took time to educate the 13 drivers on the specific regulations they had violated before processing them in accordance with the law. The unauthorised sirens and lamps were removed from the vehicles, and the drivers received warning letters with a clear caution against repeating the offence.

This approach, combining enforcement with education, is sensible. Many offenders may genuinely not understand the legal framework governing emergency equipment on private vehicles. Others may have assumed, quite reasonably given the lax enforcement of previous years, that the rules were not taken seriously. The Budumburam exercise disabuses them of that notion.

The Central East Regional Police Command has signalled its commitment to sustaining these enforcement efforts. If the operation proves to be a one-off event, its deterrent effect will fade quickly. But if it marks the beginning of consistent, visible enforcement along the Kasoa-Winneba corridor and beyond, it could contribute meaningfully to changing driver behaviour across the region.

Broader Implications for Road Safety

Ghana’s road safety record remains a cause for concern. The National Road Safety Authority has repeatedly highlighted the human cost of reckless driving, unroadworthy vehicles and inadequate enforcement. Every year, hundreds of Ghanaians die in preventable road accidents, and thousands more suffer injuries that alter their lives permanently.

Cracking down on unauthorised sirens may seem like a small measure in the face of such a large problem. But road safety is built on the cumulative effect of many such measures. When drivers learn that there are consequences for flouting traffic regulations, the culture of impunity begins to shift. When enforcement is visible and consistent, compliance follows.

The Kasoa-Winneba Highway carries heavy traffic daily, connecting commuters from the Central Region to Accra and other urban centres. Maintaining discipline on this corridor is not merely a matter of law enforcement; it is a matter of protecting the thousands of ordinary Ghanaians who depend on it to get to work, to school and to hospital safely.

The MTTD’s operation at Budumburam is a welcome step. The challenge now is to ensure it is not the last.

Image Source: GHANAIAN TIMES