Drivers must wear seat belts and ensure that passengers on board their vehicles do same as failure to do so is a punishable offence under the Road Traffic Regulations.

Police Chief Superintendent Samuel Tetteh, Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), said the new Road Traffic Legislative Instrument (LI) 2180, promulgated in 2012, enjoined every driver to ensure that passengers wore seat belts.

He said seat belts could protect lives in times of accidents and the MTTU would not relent in its efforts in ensuring that the practice became part of the driving rudiments.

Chief Superintendent Tetteh, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Koforidua, on the enforcement of the use of seat belts regulation, said all drivers and passengers were required to use seat belts.

He said to achieve the best results he had met with the leadership of road transport unions including the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, the Progressive Transport Organization and the cooperatives in the region to discuss their involvement in the ongoing exercise.

However GNA checks indicated that the focus of using seatbelts appeared to be on the drivers and not the passengers who are in the majority.

At many instances, MTTU officers who were detailed to check the use of seat belts only checked the drivers and not the passengers.

It is common to see that drivers use seat belts whiles passengers occupying the front seats close to them were not using them yet police officers allowed the vehicle to move on for the reason that the driver was in seat belt.

Most drivers of the Urvan buses that ply the Koforidua, Accra, and Kumasi routes had concealed their seat belts to prevent passengers from using them with the excuse that their frequent use would destroy them.