THE Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service yesterday arrested an amputee for driving an Albion truck without a valid driving licence.
The suspect, 47-year-old Huudu Abdulai, whose left leg has been amputated, led by the police, demonstrated to the Daily Graphic how he managed to move the truck, with registration number GT 3398 H.
He explained that having been a mechanic for several years, he was able to use his ingenuity to do some alterations to the vehicle to suit his condition in order for him to drive.
Narrating how he got into the business of driving to the Daily Graphic, Huudu, who owns two additional cars, said he fled Tamale during the northern conflict in 1994 and relocated in Accra to make ends meet through driving.
He stated that between that period and now he had been engaged in transporting foodstuffs and other items from the northern part of the country to Accra, in addition to rendering services to people by collecting their garbage and disposing of it at various landfill sites in Accra for a fee.
On how he was arrested, he said he was accosted by some policemen in town who accused him of having violated road traffic regulations, given his condition, and sent him to the MTTU Headquarters for questioning.
The Road Traffic Act, 2004, Act 683 57(1), under the requirements on physical fitness, stipulates that an application for the grant of a licence shall include a declaration by the applicant stating, among others, whether the applicant is suffering from any disease or disability or any other disability likely to cause the driving of a motor vehicle by the applicant to be a source of danger to the public.
It further requires that where it appears, from the applicant’s declaration or on inquiry, that the licensing authority is satisfied that the applicant is suffering from any disease, the authority shall, subject to the provisions of the section, refuse to grant the licence.
Asked if he had a valid driving licence, Huudu replied in the negative, saying that although he had a licence, it expired long ago and that when he attempted to renew it, he was told to go to Tamale, where he had originally acquired it, which he was yet to do.
When he was made aware that what he did was an offence punishable by law, Huudu, who sounded apologetic, pleaded with the authorities to temper justice with mercy by releasing him to enable him to sell his vehicles and use the proceeds to cater for his two wives and nine children.
But the Commander of the MTTU, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr Angwubutoge Awuni, told the Daily Graphic that Huudu would be arraigned for the law to take its course.
He said the culprit’s actions were in violation of the road traffic laws of the country, explaining that physically disabled persons had special vehicles designed for them which did not require applying both legs and, therefore, Huudu’s driving of a truck of that size posed danger to pedestrians and other road users.
Mr Awuni said the culprit alteration of the vital parts of the truck to enable him to drive it did not conform to safety standards.
The suspect, 47-year-old Huudu Abdulai, whose left leg has been amputated, led by the police, demonstrated to the Daily Graphic how he managed to move the truck, with registration number GT 3398 H.
He explained that having been a mechanic for several years, he was able to use his ingenuity to do some alterations to the vehicle to suit his condition in order for him to drive.
Narrating how he got into the business of driving to the Daily Graphic, Huudu, who owns two additional cars, said he fled Tamale during the northern conflict in 1994 and relocated in Accra to make ends meet through driving.
He stated that between that period and now he had been engaged in transporting foodstuffs and other items from the northern part of the country to Accra, in addition to rendering services to people by collecting their garbage and disposing of it at various landfill sites in Accra for a fee.
On how he was arrested, he said he was accosted by some policemen in town who accused him of having violated road traffic regulations, given his condition, and sent him to the MTTU Headquarters for questioning.
The Road Traffic Act, 2004, Act 683 57(1), under the requirements on physical fitness, stipulates that an application for the grant of a licence shall include a declaration by the applicant stating, among others, whether the applicant is suffering from any disease or disability or any other disability likely to cause the driving of a motor vehicle by the applicant to be a source of danger to the public.
It further requires that where it appears, from the applicant’s declaration or on inquiry, that the licensing authority is satisfied that the applicant is suffering from any disease, the authority shall, subject to the provisions of the section, refuse to grant the licence.
Asked if he had a valid driving licence, Huudu replied in the negative, saying that although he had a licence, it expired long ago and that when he attempted to renew it, he was told to go to Tamale, where he had originally acquired it, which he was yet to do.
When he was made aware that what he did was an offence punishable by law, Huudu, who sounded apologetic, pleaded with the authorities to temper justice with mercy by releasing him to enable him to sell his vehicles and use the proceeds to cater for his two wives and nine children.
But the Commander of the MTTU, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr Angwubutoge Awuni, told the Daily Graphic that Huudu would be arraigned for the law to take its course.
He said the culprit’s actions were in violation of the road traffic laws of the country, explaining that physically disabled persons had special vehicles designed for them which did not require applying both legs and, therefore, Huudu’s driving of a truck of that size posed danger to pedestrians and other road users.
Mr Awuni said the culprit alteration of the vital parts of the truck to enable him to drive it did not conform to safety standards.
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