The Ministry of Transport is considering the introduction of an electronic scanning device known as shearographer at the country’s ports to assist in identifying and preventing the importation of sub-standard vehicle tyres.

The shearographer could scan and clear at least 20,000 lorry tyres in a day.

Mr Lawrence Kumi, Director of Research, Statistics and Information Department of the Ministry of Transport, who announced this said the use of the scanning device would ensure that tyres imported into the country are of good quality to promote safety on the roads.

He said while efforts are being made to ensure that importers do not bring in inferior tyres, Customs officials should put in place systems at the national ports to inspect those coming from abroad to prevent the entry of low-grade ones.

Speaking on behalf of the Sector Minister, Mrs Dzifa Attivor at a stakeholder forum organised by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in Accra, Mr Kumi said studies has shown that the use of sub-standard tyres in Ghana is on the increase, contributing to most road accidents.

The forum, attended by tyre manufacturers’ representatives, dealers, importers, vulcanizers, spare parts dealers, transport operators as well as representatives of the security services, is to educate and sensitise the stakeholders on the enforcement of Regulation 62 of Road Traffic Regulation 2012, LI 2180 that prescribes guidelines for the importation and use of vehicle tyres to improve road safety.

The forum forms part of a series of vehicle tyre education and sensitisation earmarked to be held in all regional capitals to seek stakeholders’ comments and build consensus for a collective strategy to enforce the regulation.

Mr Kumi said statistics indicate that about 75 per cent of tyres imported into the country are used tyres, popularly called “second hand tyres” and that most of them have either exceeded their manufacturers guaranteed age threshold or have reduced life span.

This, he said, makes second hand tyres reliability highly variable with high implications for road safety.

He said studies also showed that more than 15 per cent of vehicles involved in fatal crashes had some form of tyre defect prior to the crash while the use of such sub-standard tyres increased the risk of crash occurrence by 30 per cent.

He explained that the efforts of the NRSC in enforcing the provisions of the Road Traffic Regulations are not meant to throw any particular group of people out of business or cloud out the private businesses but to ensure the safety of all road users, especially drivers and passengers.

He, therefore, called on stakeholders to embrace the regulation to ensure that only standard tyres as prescribed by the law are imported and used in the country to promote road safety at the highest level.

Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, Executive Director of NRSC, said the Commission as part of its mandate was coordinating the sensitisation exercise on the impending ban on the importation and use of sub-standard tyres as the law defines since the impact of road traffic crashes and the dynamics of road safety management had become critical.

She said road traffic crashes is responsible for far more deaths relative to some social and health issues including cholera and violent crimes in Ghana.

Every year, Ghana lose on average of 2,000 lives through road traffic crashes and about 60 per cent crash victims are within the productive age bracket of 18 to 55 years.

She said because road safety management has become complex judging from the dynamics and nature of how road traffic crashes occur, there is the need to confront the challenges through strong partnerships and collaboration in the fields of enforcement, engineering, emergency services and education.

Mr David Osafo Adonteng, Director of Planning and Programmes at NRSC took the participants through the topic: “Understanding the Vehicle Tyre” said people must ensure that they buy a high quality tyres for their vehicles to ensure their safety on the road.

Mr Siaw Ampadu, Chairman of the Association of Used Auto parts Dealers at Abossy Okai in Accra called on the authorities to postpone the enforcement of the Regulation scheduled for September 1, and rather engage various dealers, stakeholders and the public more to sensitise them properly on the law for them to really understand the issues and conform to the regulations.