The Director-General of the Road Safety Commission, Abraham Amaliba, has outlined plans for a more technology-driven approach to traffic monitoring in Ghana through the Traffitech initiative.

The project, he noted, will deploy digital cameras at strategic points on major roads to detect traffic offences such as speeding and reckless driving.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Law on Sunday, March 15, Amaliba said the new system will reduce the need for police officers to patrol roadsides manually.

“So Traffitech requires the use of digital cameras that will be placed at vantage points on our roads and just as we have it in some parts of the world, those cameras will be used to identify those who are overspeeding, and identify those who are engaged in reckless driving,” he explained.

He added that the system is supported by legislation, noting that the cameras are already connected to a central monitoring system.

“So we are no longer going to have policemen standing by the roadsides. It’s in the LI, if you drive, you will see the cameras already connected to a backroom. We have the cameras in the system,” he said.

The Director-General further highlighted plans to expand coverage across the country. In areas where permanent camera installations are not yet available, the Ghana Police Service has acquired tripods to mount cameras temporarily.

“We are going to augment that, the police have bought tripods where there are no cameras, you will see tripods mounted on the road and one policeman just standing somewhere whilst the camera is capturing those who are engaged in that,” he noted.

In addition to fixed and tripod-mounted cameras, some cameras will be mounted on vehicles, allowing mobile monitoring along Ghanaian roads.

“Not just the tripods, there are vehicles with some of the cameras mounted on them. These are vehicles for the Traffitech project,” Amaliba added.