Drivers who are required to wear prescription glasses when behind the steering wheel have been advised to comply with, at all times, to avert road accidents as a result of their poor vision.
According to the Manager of Vehicle Inspection and Registration of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Kwesi Bona Otto-Serebour, flouting such requirements posed danger to the driver and passengers.
Speaking at an awareness creation engagement with commercial drivers at the Tema Station in Accra on Wednesday as part of the DVLA’s Customer Service (CS) week celebration, he said the law would deal with offenders.
Road Traffic (Amendment) Act, 2008 (Act 761) Section 61 indicates that driving with uncorrected defective eyesight was an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding ten penalty units (GHC120) or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two months or both.
The CS Week is an international event celebrated annually across the globe during the first full week in October, to recognise the importance of customer service excellence to their organisations.
As part of DVLA’s celebration at the Tema Station, eye testing, licence renewal services were brought to the door steps of drivers, while officials of the Authority also educated the drivers on various road traffic regulations.
Mr Otto-Serebour advised drivers to renew their licences, road worthy certificates and insurances on time to avert conflict with the law which would cost them more.
“If you have allowed your lenses or other valid documents to expire, you cannot make insurance claims should anything happen irrespective of you having even comprehensive on road vehicles,” he said, and urged them to take advantage of the CS week to renew their documents.
He advised the drivers whose licenses permits them to drive automatic vehicles or certain categories of cars from doing otherwise as the law would deal with them when caught.
On the new eye testing reform introduced by the Authority, he said compliance had been smooth with positive feedback from drivers, but a better assessment would be done after about a year of implementation.
A Senior Client Service Officer of the DVLA Service Excellence Unit, MsVictoria Takyi, said interacting with the drivers gave the unit an opportunity to get feedback from the drivers to help improve upon their services.
He said one of the key feedbacks received at the forum was a request by the drivers that the government should review the 25-year age limit for holding commercial driver licence.
“Unfortunately DVLA on our own cannot amend those laws. So we have taken the feedback, but it will take Parliament’s approval for us to amend some of those rules,” she said.
Ms Takyi said her Unit was enhancing customer delivery and urged drivers to reach them for prompt response.
The Tema Station Welfare Chairman, Kofi Afful, urged the DVLA to set up offices at various stations so that drivers could easily renew their documents instead of employing the services of middle men.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
