But a New Drivers' License is only a tip of the iceberg

According to General News of Wednesday, 18 April 2007 the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has launched a new driver’s license which requires that from 2008 the possessor of a Ghanaian driver’s license must be literate with at least the basic school certificate(http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=122652)

We need to congratulate DVLA for this achievement and as citizen’s of a country where road accidents claim over 50% of the death toll it is incumbent on all of us (Ghanaians) to do well to support the efforts of the government to weed out all bad drivers and murderers from our roads Hopefully the government (DVLA) will make the erection of appropriate road signs all over the nation to warn approaching drivers of sharp corners or narrow bridges its next project.

According to the News report, The new license which is to replace the existing one for all categories of drivers -private, commercial or international is in a form of a plastic identity card and is renewable after six years. Unlike the booklet type of license which could easily be faked and destroyed, the plastic and computerized type is more durable and cannot be destroyed easily or duplicated.

The new license will costs 154,000 cedis

The new license has security features like water marks and the national coat of arms logo and each of the DVLA's 23 offices nationwide is eligible to issue a drivers' license.

Minimum education is required to make for easier assimilation of traffic safety signs and regulations.

The new computerized license system would have signature column, eye testing, finger printing and camera sections to ensure a one stop processing of documents. This requires that the applicant must be present to go through the process unlike the old system where applicants could have their licenses renewed though third parties.

Congratulations DVLA (the government) for taking a proactive stand towards reducing road accidents in Ghana. We all agree that the driving license in itself is not the only solution to the problem but at least it is a good place to begin with. As citizens one of our responsibilities would be to watch out for saboteurs. These include especially instructors who may want to fatten themselves on this innovation.

According to a BBC report bad driving is linked with lack of proper driving instructors. Those that issue licenses are also to blame because they just take bribes and issue licenses to murderers. As one observer from Zambia, Libuta puts it, “Within a whiff of a second, someone has been authorized to drive a car regardless of how conversant they are with the road safety procedure” in Africa. This is why we should applaud DVLA for making sure our drivers can read and write or at least recognize road signs.

Ignorance remains one of the key problems on the roads. A lot of people driving on the roads do not know anything about traffic code. The most horrible are taxi divers. They are reckless and cause many accidents. Drivers do not even recognize designated stop areas and crossing by passengers. The roads are the most hazardous in Africa. It is not unusual to find drivers (taxi and commercial) knocking down pedestrians on the Zebra crossings. There is no point to argue in favor for those who have no formal education if we really want to save life. I believe the problem will correct itself over time. Hopefully by now any Ghanaian born after 1957 has received some basic education. If they don’t but wish to drive let them attend night school. We don’t need to debate this further.

One observer from Africa has confessed in a BBC forum that he got his driving license for a paltry sum of money without even going for a driving test or school. I hope the government (or DVLA) is aware that we all know that in Africa and for that matter Ghana, “any thing works so long as there are kick-backs involved.” In South Africa, for instance, it is said that one can buy a valid license for between R250 - R1000.

There may not necessarily be agencies or individuals trying to sell duplicates but the very office and DVLA instructors if not checked could make these efforts meaningless. There are cases where instructors take money/bribes and pass students. In many cases the student may not even have taken any lessons but would be able to procure a genuine DVLA license. What provisions have the government put in place to check these abuses? An enquiring mind wants to know. It is very unfortunate but we must admit that as a country, Ghana has fine laws but they are not enforced. Rather we keep making new ones. Although the idea of dumping all fake driving licenses with digitalized and monitored versions is laudable, I urge our government (DVLA) to put laws and structures in place to avoid more corruption in this enterprise. It is possible for one driver to get two or more licenses in Ghana as we know it does happen at the passport office too. It is also possible for the computer programmer or clerk to issue genuine licenses to wrong individuals who are willing to pay bribes without taking any test.

Unfortunately we cannot rely on common sense alone when drivers are so greedy for more trips and more money. Where is common sense of the commercial driver when it comes to money? Passenger cars, (above all, a Tico model) certainly could not be the best means of transporting a cow no matter the distance. The story is told in the Ghanaian Times this month where a taxi driver has died for transporting a cow in his back seat from Sunyani to Wenchi, both in the Brong Ahafo region.

According to the story when the cow settled peacefully in the back seat of the taxi cab without a struggle at the beginning of the journey, both driver and his passenger (owner of the animal) believed they have had an innovation of transporting the animal. The peaceful journey however, did not last long. A few kilometers into the journey, the bull in the animal took the better half of it and it struggled to break free, rocking the cab violently. By the time the cab, a Tico model, known in the Ghanaian local parlance as “Akodaa” reached Chiraa, the center could no longer hold. The cab somersaulted throwing the owner away with the cow remaining on board. But the driver was not lucky, he died instantly.

Not until our governments enforce the traffic laws and meet out instant penalties to saboteurs, I’m afraid the carnage on our roads will continue to be so even in the face of computerized drivers licenses. The government MUST adopt a maintenance culture, clamp down on unlicensed drivers and apply heavy penalties for dangerous driving.

Furthermore government can raise money to improve the situation on the road by adopting the equivalent of French laws. I propose instant payment of any penalties in triplicates –police-offender-the court-where the offender is required to submit for some refund of part of the amount so charged or keep for tax purposes. Copy of ticket can be used for appealing the case before a local traffic court. By issuing offenders tickets in triplicate individual (police officers) would be careful to pocket the proceeds. Hopefully the tickets would also inform drivers about offenses that can lead to losing ones license and what point each offense can accrue on ones license.

The report added that “It is hoped that the introduction of the new licenses would eliminate the activities of middle men, popularly called 'goro boys' and to meet international standards.” While this is less likely under the new system I believe it will serve the nation well if the government or appropriate agencies would spell out and enforce penalties to those who would want to take advantage of the system rather than relying on hope. I am sure the government is aware of all these and has or is therefore putting measures in place to make the new licenses meaningful. Anything short of this is just a waste of public funds.