Bluetooth calls while driving not an offence, Ghana police clarify
The MTTD says using a hands-free connection does not itself break the law, but handling a phone in a way that distracts from driving could. The clarification follows an NRSA official’s warning about arrests under camera-based enforcement.
Making a phone call through Bluetooth or a vehicle’s hands-free system while driving is not an offence in itself, Ghana’s Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) has clarified.
However, drivers could break the law if they hold or operate a phone in a way that interferes with their concentration or control of the vehicle, according to
Assistant Commissioner of Police Alexander Kwaku Obeng.
His explanation follows remarks by a National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) official that drivers making calls, including through car Bluetooth systems, would be arrested under the newly introduced Traffitech camera enforcement system.
ACP Obeng, the MTTD’s director responsible for Education, Research and Training, gave the clarification on Accra-based Joy 99.7 FM on Wednesday, October 28, in an interview monitored by The Executive Spotlight.
He said Bluetooth use was not an offence on its own. The distinction, he explained, was between speaking through a hands-free connection and physically handling a device in a way that distracted the driver.
Holding and operating a phone could take a driver’s hand off the steering wheel and divert attention from the road, he warned. Touching or repeatedly handling a device could therefore amount to distracted driving.
ACP Obeng said drivers were required to keep both hands on the steering wheel and their eyes on the road.
He was responding to comments by Samuel Adu Gyimah, the NRSA’s Ashanti Regional Programmes Manager, about phone use and enforcement through Traffitech.
The clarification means that, in the MTTD’s account, making a Bluetooth call alone is not grounds for treating a driver as having committed the handheld-phone offence. How the driver handles the device remains relevant.
According to the regulation reproduced in Graphic Online’s report, Regulation 132 of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2519), prohibits driving on a road or in a public place while holding, using or operating a mobile phone or another communication device in one or both hands.
The provision includes an exception for contacting the Police, Fire Service or another emergency service when stopping is unsafe or impracticable.
The report states that a breach can attract a fine of up to 50 penalty units, imprisonment for up to three months, or both, upon summary conviction.
At the GH¢12 value per penalty unit given in the report, the maximum fine would be GH¢600.
ACP Obeng’s clarification nevertheless carries a warning for motorists: a hands-free connection does not excuse handling a phone in a way that takes attention away from driving.