A Magistrate’S Court has ordered that four 207 Mercedes Benz vehicles whose drivers were prosecuted by the court for disconnecting the rear brakes of the vehicles be grounded and prevented from plying any route in the country until the brakes are repaired.
The court, presided over by Mr Eugene Obeng-Ntim, also ordered the drivers of the vehicles to present their vehicles to the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA) for inspection after the repairs for the Authority to declare the vehicle safe for use.
The magistrate sternly warned the drivers not to use the vehicles for any commercial purposes until the DVLA directed them to do so.
The court gave the order after a task force established in Kumasi to enforce road traffic regulations in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs arrested 22 drivers for prosecution for flouting various road traffic regulations.
The task force, which started operating last Friday, inspected 162 vehicles during the exercise and cautioned 38 drivers for minor offences.
The Ashanti Regional Licensing Officer of the DVLA, Mr Noah Tetteh Matey, who briefed the Daily Graphic about the exercise, said as part of the exercise, drivers of eight mini buses, including four 207 Mercedes Benz buses and four Nissan Urvan buses, were arrested and prosecuted.
He explained that their offences included disconnecting the rear brakes of their vehicles, using worn-out tyres, defective rear shock absorbers and defective lights among others.
According to Mr Matey, the task force, made up of the DVLA officers, the police and members of the Road Safety Commission, also arrested and prosecuted four drivers of mini trucks and two of articulated trucks whose offences included driving rickety vehicles and vehicles with poor brakes, and driving without licence.
Mr Matey said three private car drivers were also arrested for using windscreens with multiple cracks, as well as driving without driver's licence.
He said an articulated truck driver who was using a low class licence was also arrested and four tractor drivers who were driving with expired driving licences, defective lights and traffic indicators were also arrested and prosecuted.
He said the drivers of the tractors were also arrested for driving vehicles with defective horns, defaced number plates and worn-out tyres.
He said the exercise, which was conducted on the outskirts of the Kumasi metropolis, along the Kumasi-Accra road, would be sustained and extended to other major roads in the metropolis.
Commending the court for the speedy trial of the offending drivers, Mr Matey said such action would not only motivate members of the task force to sustain the operation, but would also deter drivers who had developed the penchant for flouting road traffic regulations.
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