From Kwadwo B. Donkor, Kumasi. The Director of Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Angwobugote Awuni has asked personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) to be abreast of the road transport regulations to enable them to discharge their duties effectively. He said with the introduction of the spot fines, there was the need for the personnel to be on top of issues and be able to educate the public and also be prepared to answer questions from the doubting public. He said, already people have a bad perception about the MTTU and tasked the commanders to erase that perception among the public by ensuring those “you send on the roads are conversant with the law and will not do anything that bring the name of the police into disrepute.” Mr. Awuni was speaking at a two-day training workshop on the implementation of spot fines for regional and divisional MTTU commanders here at Fumesua, near Kumasi. The workshop was to train the regional and divisional commanders on the implementation of the spot fines and the process involved and the roles they are expected to play. The objectives of the spot fines are to reduce indiscipline on the road and prevent minor offences that may lead to accidents, facilitate and quicken the administration of justice for road traffic offenders; to reduce pressure on the police and the courts with report processing and adjudication of minor offences. Mr. Awuni explained that the Spot fines were not the creation of the police service as the issue has been discussed with all stakeholders in the road traffic management including the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) and that all the infractions that attract the fines were already in existence. He said the only difference is that instead of processing the offenders for court, they will be made to pay the fines “but not any police officer but at a designated pay point.” Mr. Awuni said even though the implementation of the spot fine would be done by personnel of the MTTU, “it is not any MTTU person but a special task force that will be train to implement it.” For now, he said he spot fines will be piloted in three regions, Accra, Tema and Kumasi before the national roll out. He, however, did say exactly when the fines will become operational. The director of Monitoring and Evaluation at NRSC, David O. Adonteng, explained that countries that have implemented measures meant to reduce road fatalities have all been to drastically reduce road fatalities. He said in spite of the high number of road fatalities in the country, Ghana “is no where near the top 50 countries with high road fatalities.” One of the major challenges facing the commission in reducing road fatalities in the country, he explained, was how to reduce pedestrian casualties. He said there had been too much concentration on the motorists and no education or action plan to reduce the pedestrian casualties, which, he said, is increasing. Another phenomenon which is increasing the number of fatalities on the road is the okada menace. According to him, the menace has moved beyond a road safety issue to transportation system where people want to spend less time in traffic jams. Mr. Adonteng said in the first quarter of the 2013, 540 people have been killed in road accidents as compared to 565 for the same period last year and 3,130 have suffered injuries as against 3, 464 for the same period last year, a 9% reduction. He said the target to record less than 1,600 fatalities by the year 2015 and to further reduce it to less 1,000 by the year 2020.