The management of the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has warned motorists against the embellishment of number plates of vehicles.
In a release, the DVLA “has noted with concern the manner in which vehicle owners and drivers embellish their vehicle number plates in flagrant disregard to provisions in the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (LI2180).
The illegalities the release noted include the embossment of wrong insignia, the use of other nations’ flags in place of the Ghana flag, italicised lettering on the number plate, the use of colours that are different from what is prescribed by law and the embellishment of number plates with different colours. The release also mentioned the non-use of number plates on the front and rear of vehicles.
The DVLA release points out “while Regulation 12 of the Road Traffic Regulation, 2012, LI 2180 makes it clear that the number plate of a motor vehicle or motorcycle shall be embossed with (a) a Ghana flag (b) the country identification mark ‘GH’, Regulation 7 states explicitly that a person in charge of a motor vehicle shall fix a number plate in an upright position or within fifteen degrees of that position (c) in a manner that makes each letter and figure legible . Besides, Regulation 9 of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012, LI 2180 also stipulates that a person in charge of a motor vehicle number shall fix the two number plates (a) on the front and rear sides of the motor vehicle, and (b) on the front and rear sides of a trailer.
The authority adds that “in addition to providing a critical unique feature on the vehicle to establish ownership and a special identification for compliance with statutory provisions, the material characteristics of the licence plate also include retro-reflectivity and enhanced plate visibility thereby providing easy means of distinguishing the registration information of the vehicle. It is therefore, unlawful that these plates should be tampered with.”
Personnel of the DVLA and the MTTD will in the next few weeks commence an enforcement exercise to clamp down on the foregone illegalities.
By A.R. Gomda