Police MTTU, DVLA arrest fake reflector dealers
Personnel of the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) undertook a joint operation in Accra on Friday, during which eight dealers in fake retro-reflective tapes were arrested.
Briefing newsmen on the operation at the Police Headquarters, the Director-General of the MTTU, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Angwubutoge Awuni, said the culprits were arrested at Abossey-Okai, the business centre of vehicle spare parts in Accra.
He said his office had received information that some fake vehicle reflective tapes had found their way onto the market and were being sold to unsuspecting members of the public, especially vehicle owners in various parts of the Accra metropolis.
“The only lawful authority that has been mandated to produce and distribute retro-reflective tapes is the DVLA”, the MTTU Director emphasised.
Therefore, any other individual or group who engaged in that activity was contravening the country’s traffic law and would be dealt with when caught, he said.
He further indicated that the Police MTTU was working in collaboration with the DVLA to get to the source of supply of the fake reflectors, and that the eight culprits arrested in Friday’s operation would be prosecuted..
ACP Awuni cautioned vehicle owners and drivers against patronising any such items from street hawkers, adding that they should save themselves from trouble by procuring genuine reflectors from the DVLA and its designated outlets.
Mr. Rudolph Beckley, Chief Executive of the DVLA, mentioned Stanbay Limited, Al-Tafma Limted and Original Company Limited as the three designated companies that had been mandated by the Authority to produce reflectors which were channelled to the general public through some 27 accredited outlets.
He said the existence of fake reflectors on the market had far reaching consequences because the reflective substance used in their production was of poor quality.
The DVLA boss explained that the use of retro-reflective tapes on the front and rear sides of vehicles was to ensure that the width of an approaching vehicle, especially at night, could be clearly determined by other drivers to avoid collision.
“Therefore, due to the poor quality of fake reflectors they are barely reflective enough and make it difficult for a driver to see an oncoming vehicle very well, which could result in a road crash”, he said, stressing that the issue of fake reflective tapes had serious implications for road safety.
Mr Beckley said the joint operations by the Police MTTU and the DVLA would be sustained over a long period to weed out those elements whose activities posed a threat to road users, particularly as the Christmas and New Year season approached.
Source: GNA