Fix emergency doors or be grounded ; Court orders bus owners
The Human Rights High Court has given all commercial and public omnibuses operating in the country without emergency exit doors nine weeks to correct their defects or risk being grounded.
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The presiding judge, Justice Kofi Essel Mensah, who gave the directive at the court’s sitting last Wednesday, said by March 26, 2015, he would give an order for any vehicle which had not corrected that defect to be grounded and its owner held in contempt.
Negative repercussions
Justice Mensah arrived at that decision after considering that an immediate order for those vehicles to be grounded could have immense adverse economic implications that would not augur well for national development.
The ruling follows an action brought by a Tema-based public servant, Mr Kwabena Osei, against the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and 10 others for flouting the law requiring commercial omnibuses operating in the country to have emergency exit doors.
The 10 others are the State Transport Company, VIP, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), O & A Transport, Metro Mass Transit, J. A. Plant Pool, the Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA), Mariset Company Ltd (M Plaza), the National Insurance Commission and the Attorney-General.
Counsel for the plaintiff, Mr Kwabena Kunadu Yiadom, had argued that the case had commenced as far back as 2011 and that if the affected parties had any intention of remedying the defects, they would have done so long ago.
He, therefore, asked the court to give an immediate order for the vehicles to be grounded.
The directive and the expected order draws to an end a four-year action instituted by the plaintiff.
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The case was instituted in 2011 but the DVLA and the IGP had been intransigent and failed to appear in court, compelling the court to order the plaintiff to file a writ of mandamus, following which a default judgement would be given if those parties still failed to make appearance.
The case
Mr Osei had contended that it was provided under the law that an omnibus was supposed to be constructed to provide at least two entrances or exits for passengers; one of which should be an emergency exit as approved by the licensing authority.
He also held that the DVLA, the authority which was created by law to promote good driving standards in Ghana and ensure the use of roadworthy vehicles on the roads, was charged to ensure strict compliance with the Road Traffic Act 2004 and its regulations.
The police, whose mandate it was to enforce the said provisions for the construction of passenger-carrying vehicles, he added, had neglected the sanctioning of such offending motor vehicle operators and vehicles.
The offences complained of, he averred, continued to occur on a daily basis because the DVLA continued to inspect, test and register motor vehicles and issue vehicle registration and examination certificates to the offending operators.
Reliefs
Mr Osei is seeking an order requiring the DVLA to examine all new and existing passenger-carrying vehicles and refuse to register and license any vehicle that does not conform to the prescribed requirements.
He is also seeking an order to ensure that any motor vehicle does not pose a danger to safety in relation to its entrance and exit for passengers.
Mr Osei is praying the court to order the police to strictly enforce the provisions of the law relating to the construction of passenger-carrying vehicles and to arrest, detain and prosecute all vehicle operators and passengers who flout the law.
Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh