Derek Boateng, 34 others arrested for flouting road regulations
Ex-Black Stars midfielder, Derek Boateng, has been arrested for actions uncharacteristic of a role model of his stature.
The Accra Central Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) busted the former Fulham star and 34 others for flouting road traffic regulations.
Some security officers whose identities were not immediately known were part of the culprits during an exercise to clamp down on road indiscipline on the Olusegun Obasanjo Way and J A Kufour Avenue in Accra.
The drivers were arrested on Thursday morning during a speed enforcement exercise by the MTTD in collaboration with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS)
They were driving above the legally specified speed limit of 50 km/hr at which a vehicle could drive in the city with the Laser Cam 4-speed detection device donated to the Accra Central MTTD by the BIGRS through the AMA.
Thirty-one of the drivers were later sent to the Nima Police Station and processed to the La Motor Court, after which they were fined between GHC 480 to GHC660 amounting to GH8,460, whilst four are still pending before the court.
Speaking in an interview after the exercise, Metropolitan Chief Executive of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah cautioned motorists to comply with the 50km/h and 30km/h speed limits in urban and school areas, respectively, as stipulated in Ghana Road Traffic Regulations (L.I.2180) when plying the city’s roads.
He said research suggests that speeding accounts for major road traffic deaths adding that driving within the prescribed speed limits would go a long way to help reduce the high rate of road crash fatalities and injuries recorded in the city.
“The Department of Urban Roads has mounted speed limits across the city of Accra, but people hardly comply… Recent survey and research suggest that speeding is the main cause of road crashes and fatalities, and we have to be very serious about it because the numbers are alarming. It’s becoming a public health crisis,” he said.
He also cautioned motorcyclists to wear helmets at all times, respect road traffic regulations by not jumping red lights.
He assured that the exercise would continue at all flashpoints in Accra, where crashes were mostly recorded, stressing that its ultimate aim is to record zero crashes.
The Commander of the Accra Central MTTD, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP ) Martin Ayiih, used the opportunity to admonished motorists to slow down and drive within the posted speed limit to avoid arrest and prosecution.