Accra: Ghana has introduced stricter child road safety measures following the passage of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2025, which significantly raises the minimum age for children allowed to sit in the front seat of vehicles.
According to Ghana Web, Chief Inspector Frempong Ferguson Ayeh, Station Officer at the Akyem Oda Division, explained in a video shared on X by State News on April 27, 2026, that under the new legislation, children under 12 years are not permitted to occupy the front seat of any vehicle. He stated that the law has been amended from its previous stipulation, which prevented children under five years from sitting in the front seat of vehicles. Now, the amendment extends this restriction to children under 12 years.
The amended law also legalises and regulates the operations of commercial riders, adjusts the legal threshold for blood-alcohol concentration in drivers, and introduces tighter penalties for offenders. These changes are part of a broader push to tackle road accidents, introducing new standards for alcohol limits for drivers, formalising commercial motorcycle operations, and establishing mandatory emission testing for vehicles.
Overall, the new legislation aims to strengthen road safety, improve compliance with child protection standards in vehicles, and reduce the risks of injury during road accidents.