DVLA staff during the 25th anniversary health walk
Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operation, at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Prince Opoku Edusei, has revealed that the authority has implemented reforms to promote competent driving as well as improve road safety.
According to him, DVLA is about road safety and the core mandate of the authority is to ensure competent drivers are licensed and roadworthy vehicles are registered.
He said this in an interview with the media during the health walk and aerobics organised by the DVLA as part of activities to mark its 25th anniversary.
The exercise was on the theme, “Healthy Steps, Happy Employees: Walking Towards Better Service”.
Underlining the implemented reforms, Mr. Edusei said DVLA has implemented a test reform with qualified optometrists to offer services to prospective drivers.
“A research conducted by some professors of the Cape Coast University revealed that most drivers, especially the commercial drivers have defects in their eyes,” he said.
He stated that, over the course of nearly two years of introducing the test reform, many drivers have been assisted in correcting problems affecting their eyes, of which some are not even aware of.
Another reform implemented by DVLA according to him, is the Computer Based Testing (CBT) reform which will be used to check the competency of people who decide to drive adding that, they have introduced six Ghanaian languages to help those who do not understand English to get a better understanding of the CBT.
“We are also going to implement driver simulators during our in-traffic test, because we are unable to test drivers on all the various road conditions that driving would expose them to,” he added.
He explained that drivers cannot be tested in the night to see how they drive or when it is raining, hence, the “simulators is supposed to simulate all these conditions and as the prospective drivers respond to them, we can tell whether they are competent enough to drive or not “.
Board Chairman of DVLA, Frank Devies ESQ, said the health walk is one of the activities they have rolled out to celebrate the DVLA’s achievements.
According to him, the reason for the health walk and the aerobics is to energise the body, because “a healthy mind is always found in a healthy body”.
By Janet Odei Amponsah