Mahama Tells Motorists Unhappy With TraffiTech-GH Fines to Simply Stop Speeding

• President John Dramani Mahama addressed public concerns about the TraffiTech-GH automated traffic enforcement system
• Mahama defended the rollout of speed cameras despite calls from some motorists to delay implementation until roads are improved
• The President directed police and implementing agencies to install warning signs at all camera locations ahead of enforcement

President John Dramani Mahama has offered a blunt response to motorists frustrated by penalties under Ghana's newly introduced TraffiTech-GH automated traffic enforcement system: observe the speed limit and the fines will not apply.

Speaking to 1957 News on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Jumby Bay Island in Antigua and Barbuda, the President addressed growing public debate over the proportionality of fines under the system. "If it [fines] is too expensive, then don't overspeed; that's all, there is a solution to it," he said.

Some motorists have argued that the technology should not have been deployed before road infrastructure across the country had been fully addressed.

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Mahama rejected that position, drawing a comparison with the United Kingdom, where speed cameras operate alongside an imperfect road network.

"The roads are not perfect in the UK, and yet they have speed cameras," he said, adding that road repairs and traffic law enforcement were not mutually exclusive and should proceed in parallel.

He also noted that the system's current scope was limited. "My understanding is that Traffitech has begun with overspeeding; they have not yet added the other components of jumping red light, parking wrongly," he said, indicating that further traffic violations would be incorporated into the enforcement framework over time.

Warning Signs to Be Installed at Camera Locations

While firmly backing the initiative, President Mahama directed the Ghana Police Service and other agencies overseeing the system to place visible signage ahead of all speed camera locations, so that motorists are adequately forewarned.

"All I will urge is that the police and those implementing Traffitech should put signs showing where the cameras are, because that is one of the things you need to do if you are introducing this kind of innovation," he said. "You need to put signposts, warning motorists, that there is a speed camera ahead. I think that transparency is important."

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The President grounded his broader defence of the enforcement system in road safety concerns, pointing specifically to the danger that speeding poses to schoolchildren. "If you look at the number of children knocked down every year in Ghana when they are coming from school, you will understand why it is important for us to check over speeding. Children coming from school are knocked down and killed or permanently injured, and so it is important for us to check speeding," he said.

TraffiTech-GH currently targets speeding as its primary enforcement function, with the Ghana government positioning it as a technology-driven measure to strengthen compliance with road traffic regulations and reduce preventable crashes on the country's roads.

Source: YEN.com.gh