The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has announced that vehicles abandoned on roads without being promptly towed could be auctioned under Ghana’s new road traffic regulations.
Under the new rules, vehicle owners will be required to subscribe to a towing service or purchase an insurance policy that includes towing cover to ensure that vehicles involved in breakdowns or crashes are removed from the road without delay.
The Director of Registration, Inspection and Compliance at the NRSA, Kwame Koduah Attuahene, said vehicle owners who fail to comply could have their vehicles compulsorily towed, with the cost charged to them.
“The law is that every vehicle owner will be required to subscribe to a towing service company or buy an insurance policy that has a towing service tied to it,” Mr Attuahene said.
No more grace period for broken-down vehicles
According to Mr Attuahene, the new regulations remove the grace period previously allowed for motorists after a vehicle breakdown.
He explained that motorists are now required to arrange for immediate towing once their vehicles become disabled.
“Once your vehicle breaks down, the law now requires that immediately you must have it towed. In the old law, it gave you a 30-minute or one-hour grace period, but now the law is that as soon as you break down, you must have your vehicle towed,” he said.
He was speaking at a national sensitisation programme on the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 1153) and the Road Traffic Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2519).
Motorists are also required to place an advance warning triangle and notify their towing service provider when their vehicles become disabled.
The towing company is then expected to notify the Police or NRSA and arrange for the vehicle to be moved to a storage facility.
Seven-day period to reclaim vehicle
The NRSA said vehicles moved to a storage facility will initially be kept for a maximum of seven days, within which the owner is expected to reclaim the vehicle.
Where the owner fails to take action, further steps will be initiated towards a judicial auction.
Mr Attuahene said vehicle owners would receive seven days’ notice before the auction.
If an auction is unsuccessful, the vehicle could eventually be confiscated by the state and possibly scrapped.
“After 21 days, you will be auctioned. You have seven days’ notice before the sale. And where the sale is unsuccessful, the state will confiscate the vehicle and possibly scrap it,” he said.
Measures aimed at reducing road hazards
The NRSA said the measures are intended to prevent disabled and crashed vehicles from remaining on roads and creating additional risks for other road users.
Mr Attuahene stressed that vehicle owners must comply with the requirement to have towing arrangements in place.
“All of this is to ensure that we comply with the basic rule, which is that you must either subscribe or get a policy,” he said.
