The Transport committee of Parliament has accused the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) of taking the decision without the input of interest groups and threatens to summon the boss to explain his decision to change the number plate for articulated trucks.
This follows the DVLA's decision from June this year to register over 300,000 trailers and their heads separately across the country. The DVLA noted that because trailers are not registered, owners do not maintain them properly.
Presently, all articulated trucks and trailers have the same license plates at the front and back.
According to the DVLA, when the new initiative is implemented, the number to be displayed in front of the vehicles will, therefore, be different from the number displayed behind the trailers.
Parliament says it's not happy with the DVLA, and that DVLA will be summoned by parliament together with the Ministry of Road andTransport to explain their reason for the new initiative.
In an interview with Starr news the Ranking Member of Roads and Transport in Parliament Governs Kwame Agbodza said:
''DVLA sometime ago took up a responsibility which is not theirs, saying they are selling first aid boxes to drivers and we had to threaten to go to court to stop them before they withdrew that. I don't know why DVLA has appeared to be a unilateral organization. I'm a ranking member of the road and transport committee in parliament, why should I be hearing this for the first time? What is wrong if the DVLA administration consult the committee so we can understand whatever they are doing'' .
He added: ''We are not happy with the current administration of the DVLA. We are going to summon the heads of DVLA together with the Ministry to explain this. The implementation is in June, we will have much time to come in terms with it. Drivers are already burdened with huge cost like the vehicle luxury tax, cost of fuel. The committee stands to avert excessive cost on drivers''.
The CEO of National Roads and Safety commission Ing. May Yeboah believes the initiative is a step in the right direction that it will prevent vehicles from crashing into trailers stuck on the road:
''It will help the police or any road user to identify who the owner of a truck is when a situation needs to be addressed. By law, trailers are supposed to be registered. If they are registered we will be able to identify them, incase a trailer is disabled on the road, the police or assembly will identify the owner to tow the trailer from the road as soon as possible to prevent vehicles from crashing into them''.
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