The Chairman of the Governing Board of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), George Spencer Quaye, has called for a fundamental shift in how the Authority measures its performance, insisting that Ghana must no longer accept road deaths as an inevitable part of life.

He said the DVLA’s success must not be judged only by revenue generated, licences issued or vehicles registered, but by the extent to which its work reduces the risk of death and injury on Ghana’s roads.

He made the call at the opening session of DVLA’s 2026 Mid-Year Review Conference in Sunyani in the Bono Region.

The 3-day conference is on the theme: “Transforming DVLA for a Digitally-Driven and Efficient 24-Hour Service Culture.”

“Are we helping to make Ghana’s roads safer? That is the question I want us to place at the centre of this review,” he said.

According to him, Ghana recorded 14,743 road crashes, 2,949 deaths and 16,714 injuries in 2025.

He added that between January and April 2026 alone, 4,899 crashes claimed 1,009 lives and injured 5,982 people.

Hep urged stakeholders not to reduce the figures to mere data, stressing the devastating impact on families losing loved ones.

“We must resist the temptation to reduce these figures to statistics. Behind every fatality is a human being. A parent. A child. A spouse. A brother. A sister. A friend. A breadwinner. A future that will never be realised,” he said.

He identified speeding, dangerous overtaking, drink-driving, fatigue, distraction, driving unroadworthy vehicles, driving without the appropriate competence and disregard for traffic rules as among the behaviours that must be confronted head-on.

He also acknowledged challenges relating to road infrastructure and enforcement, including poorly maintained or inadequately marked roads and insufficient pedestrian facilities.

The Board Chairman said the DVLA must change its institutional mindset and recognise itself not merely as a licensing and vehicle registration agency, but as a road-safety institution.

“The DVLA is not simply a place where a citizen goes to obtain a driver’s licence or register a vehicle. We are a road-safety institution,” he said.

He announced that road safety would become more prominent in the Authority’s performance framework, with emphasis on driver competence, vehicle compliance, licensing integrity and regulatory effectiveness.

“Our performance conversation must increasingly move from ‘how much did we do?’ to ‘what risk did we reduce?’” he said.

Mr Quaye further called for stronger driver testing, vehicle inspection, use of technology, data integration and zero tolerance for fraud and corruption.

“A fraudulent licence can become a lethal document,” he warned.

He said financial sustainability of the Authority remained important but that should serve, rather than undermine, it’s regulatory mandate.

“Every cedi matters. But every life matters more,” he stressed.

He urged management and staff to take progressive steps to reduce road risks and improve public value, adding that “We cannot eliminate every crash. But we can build systems that reduce risk.”

The Chairman said the ultimate measure of the DVLA’s performance should be whether its systems contribute meaningfully to reducing deaths and injuries on Ghana’s roads.