No Speed Limit Signs, No Traffictech Cameras: NRSA Clarifies Digital Enforcement Rules

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) says its Traffictech digital enforcement cameras will initially operate only on roads where speed limits are clearly displayed, insisting motorists should not face penalties where authorities have failed to provide the necessary road signs.

NRSA Director-General Abraham Amaliba explained that the restriction was intended to ensure fairness as Ghana introduces technology-driven traffic monitoring.

Speaking on Joy FM on Wednesday, November 4, during a discussion on the country’s road safety blueprint, he argued that digital enforcement must be supported by adequate road infrastructure.

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"So, we cannot use 21st-century digital policing to apply to 19th-century broken-down infrastructure. You know what that means. Our infrastructure is broken," he said.

Mr Amaliba said cameras would be activated on routes where motorists could clearly identify the applicable speed limits through road signs.

He cited Boundary Road towards Mahama Road in Accra as an example, noting that the route has indicators showing a speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour.

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"So, for instance, if you're on the Boundary Road, going up to the Mahama Road, you will see that there are traffic indicators, that there are speed limits there, 50 kilometres per hour. There, the cameras will catch you," he stated.

Roads without the required signs will be excluded from the initial enforcement exercise until the necessary infrastructure is provided.

"But where we don't have the road infrastructure, I mean the signs, the cameras will not be used in those places," he said, adding: "So it is only fair that we do not punish people for our own inadequacies."

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Mr Amaliba disclosed that the arrangement was discussed at a meeting on Tuesday, November 3, involving the Ministers for the Interior, Local Government and Transport, the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), the NRSA and transport operators.

He said the restriction had already guided the deployment of the cameras but acknowledged that the public had not been adequately informed.

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"At that meeting, it was made clear, and if you ask ACP Obeng, that has been the modus operandi. It was not explained for people to know that the cameras are only deployed in areas where the speed limits exist," he said.

He also confirmed that a dedicated Traffictech committee had been meeting regularly ahead of the system’s rollout to oversee preparations for its implementation.