The Northern Regional Police Command in collaboration with the National Road Safety Authority and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), have impounded 344 motorbikes for violating road safety regulations in the Tamale metropolis.
The impounded motorbikes consist of 285 unregistered motorbikes, 59 arrested for not wearing helmet , 4 unregistered motorkings and 1 unregistered yellow yellow.
The Northern Regional Police Commander, COP Timothy Bonga Yoosa addressing the media in Tamale said they are enforcing the law because before a motorbike or vehicle is used on the road it must be registered in accordance with the road safety regulations.
“Our mandate is to protect lives and property so without the helmet you are at a greater risk and so you must ensure that you put on the helmet so that in case of any accident at least you will be protected to save your life.”
He indicated that the region has registered a number of motor accidents in recent times which has taken away people’s lives and cautioned residents to respect the road safety regulations.
COP Yoosah noted that criminals use unregistered motorbikes to engage in their unlawful activities and that the registration of motorbikes in the region will limit the perpetration of criminal activities and the easy identification of criminals.
The Regional Police Commander appealed to residents to support them to ensure that crime in the region is reduced drastically and assured that the operation will continue in the region.
The Northern Regional Manager of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Abdulai Mutawakilu, said it is the responsibility DVLA to ensure that there is sanity on the road.
According to him, the DVLA has activated the Motorbikes Association of Ghana and that every Sunday they hold meetings to ensure that selling motorbikes without registration will become an offense.
“We are appealing to all motorbike dealings in the region to join the association because we are going to sensitize the public and so if you don’t belong nobody will buy a motorbike from you because you will not be able to register a motorbike if you don’t belong to the association.”
He warned motorbike riders who engage in buying fake number plates at a low cost to desist from it because they have the data of registered motorbikes in the region.
“If you are riding a motorbike and you are not sure of the number come to DVLA let’s verify that you are using the correct number plate.”
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale