Leadership of Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has set Monday 10th October, 2022, for rollout of the mandatory vehicle towing policy for prompt removal of disabled vehicles from roads across the country
The new towing policy, being rolled out by the GPRTU in partnership with the Road Safety Management Service Limited (RSMSL), a private Company, among other things is intended to help reduce road accidents caused by broken down vehicles left on the road.
The General Secretary of the GPRTU, Godfred Abulbire said the GPRTU sees the towing initiative as an effective way to ensure drivers under the union do not endanger the lives of passengers and members of the public.
According to the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), broken-down vehicles contributed to 3.8 per cent of deaths and 2.9 per cent of injuries from the recorded road crashes in Ghana.
Over 1,650 people died from road accidents with 1,406 injuries, and 1,942 knockdowns during January and August this year.
The contractual agreement between the GPRTU and RSMSL requires vehicle owners to pay annual subscription fees depending on the type of vehicle.
Per the payment regime, taxis will be charged GH¢50; trotros, GH¢80; long buses, GH¢300; and articulated trucks, GH¢500.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Publisher ahead of the rollout next week, the General Secretary of the GPRTU, Godfred Abulbire, said the leadership of the Union at both the National and Regional levels will continue their engagements with drivers under the Union on the importance of the policy.
The RSMSL, Mr Abulbire said, has brought in over 250 towing trucks to ensure that every district gets at least one towing centre.
He stated that a provision has been made for people who have 10 vehicles or more to enjoy a discount of up to five per cent.
He added that the new towing regime has an effective reporting system that allows drivers, passengers and passersby to report incidents of vehicles that break down for prompt action.
“There is a motivation system for members of the public who report accidents to the RSMSL for prompt action,” he said.
GPRTU is the biggest transport operator in Ghana controlling about 85 per cent of the private transport space.
The Union has over 2,100 branches across the country with over 2.6 million vehicles and 3 million drivers.
The GPRTU secretary said the union would leverage its dominance in the transport space to ensure the towing levy was enforced.
He said when the initiative was fully rolled out, any driver without the vehicle towing identification card would be denied the right to load at any of GPRTU’s terminals.
‘We do not want to make it optional; it is mandatory, so when we begin, every member of the union will have to hook up to it,” he stressed.
