The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has assured motorists who have not subscribed to the mandatory towing service that any surplus from the auction of their vehicles will be refunded to them after the cost of towing has been deducted, provided they can be traced.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the Director General, Abraham Amaliba, said the authorities would first deduct the cost of towing the vehicle from the money raised through its sale and return any remaining amount to the owner, provided they could be traced.
“If the amount is more than what you owe us, we’ll give the rest to you. That is, if we can find you. If not, we’ll put it in a government account,” he said.
His comments followed a question from the programme’s host about whether a vehicle owner whose car had been auctioned for failing to pay towing charges would receive the balance after the authorities had recovered their costs.
In response, Mr Amaliba clarified that the auction arrangement was intended to deal with vehicles whose owners had not subscribed to the towing service and could not be reached or had failed to respond to attempts to contact them.
He said the authorities would use vehicle registration records to trace the owners and give them 21 days to come forward before proceeding with the auction.
“The reason is that there were a lot of accident cars parked at the police station. You know that. And the people never came for them,” he said.
Mr Amaliba said the proposed provision was also intended to address the growing number of accident-damaged vehicles left unclaimed at police stations across the country.
According to him, the vehicles occupy space at police stations because their owners fail to return for them, leaving the authorities with the burden of storing them.
He said the new arrangement would provide a process for recovering the cost of towing and clearing vehicles that had been abandoned for extended periods.
“I don’t know whether you are aware most of our police stations are inundated with accident cars that people have not come to claim them. This law is to help clear them,” he said.
When asked how an injured driver who had been admitted to hospital would comply with the requirement to have a vehicle removed immediately after an accident.
The NRSA director-general said the authority was considering a system that would allow road safety officials and the police to identify vehicles left on major roads and arrange for their removal, even when the owners were unable to act.
“If the vehicle is not towed, we are going to have a back room which will give us access to all the major roads in Ghana,” he said.
He explained that the proposed system would enable the authorities to identify stationary vehicles that posed a risk to other road users and intervene where necessary.
“So we can see the car parked there and we, as road safety and police, can come and remove it for you. Then later we can deal with you,” he added.