4.5 Speed Limits, Stopping & Parking

4.5 Speed Limits, Stopping & Parking

Speed and stopping rules are the most heavily tested numbers in the Rules of the Road domain. Ghana's general limits are set by the Road Traffic Regulations 2012 (LI 2180) made under the Road Traffic Act 2004 (Act 683), and are promoted in public education by the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), while enforcement on the road falls to the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service. Learn the figures below as a set — the exam will present plausible wrong numbers as distractors.

The Speed Limit Framework

Trucks carry their own ceilings on top of the general limits: 75 km/h for a loaded truck and 80 km/h for an unloaded truck.

Three exam points hide inside this table. First, the 30 km/h figure is the one candidates most often forget: it applies wherever vulnerable road users concentrate — schools, playgrounds, health facilities, churches, mosques, markets, shopping centres, and processions — whether or not a sign happens to remind you. Second, there is no separate limit for "regional" or "national" highways: outside an urban area every road that is not a motorway shares the same 90 km/h ceiling, and only a motorway reaches 100 km/h. An option that invents an 80 km/h highway tier is a distractor — 80 km/h is the unloaded truck limit, not a road-class limit. Third, where a posted sign shows a different limit, the sign wins; the table gives the general defaults that apply when no sign indicates otherwise.

Limits Are Maximums, Not Targets

A speed limit is the fastest you may legally travel in ideal conditions — it is never a target or an entitlement. The Highway Code requires you to drive at a speed suited to the actual conditions, which often means well below the posted maximum. You must slow down for:

• Weather: heavy rain (standing water doubles stopping distances and risks aquaplaning), harmattan dust haze, and fog.
• Darkness: never drive so fast that you cannot stop within the distance your headlights illuminate; on unlit rural roads this may mean far below the highway limit.
• Road condition: potholes, unpaved shoulders, loose gravel, and unmarked speed humps.
• Traffic and road users: congestion, pedestrians near markets and bus stops, school children, animals, cyclists, and broken-down vehicles on the shoulder.

Driving at the legal maximum through a crowded market area can still constitute dangerous or careless driving, because the offence is judged against what a competent driver would do in those conditions, not just against the number on the sign.

Speeding Penalties and Enforcement

Speeding is an offence under Act 683 and LI 2180 (Regulation 165) and carries fines, possible court prosecution, and — for excessive or repeated speeding — licence consequences. The MTTD enforces limits with speed checks and cameras on major corridors, and the NRSA's campaigns repeatedly identify excessive speed as a leading contributor to fatal crashes in Ghana, particularly on highways such as the Accra–Kumasi road. For the theory test, the essential message is that limits are legal ceilings backed by penalties, and that "keeping up with traffic" is no defence — every driver is individually responsible for their own speed.

Where You Must Not Stop or Park

Stopping (a brief halt, even with the engine running and the driver inside) and parking (leaving the vehicle stationary) are restricted in the places where a stationary vehicle creates danger or obstruction. Do not stop or park:

• On a pedestrian (zebra) crossing or within the zig-zag/marked approach zones leading to one.
• At or near a junction — parking close to a corner blocks sight lines and forces turning traffic into danger.
• At a bus stop or lorry station bay, which must stay clear for buses and tro-tros to pull in safely.
• On a bridge, in a tunnel, or on a narrow road where your vehicle cannot be passed safely.
• On or near a bend or hill crest, where approaching drivers cannot see your vehicle in time.
• On the pavement/sidewalk, blocking pedestrians, or across driveways and entrances.
• Wherever a no-stopping or no-parking sign or marking applies, including bus lanes and clearways.
• On the main carriageway of a motorway or highway, except in an emergency — and in an emergency, pull fully onto the shoulder, switch on hazard lights, and place your warning triangle.

Parking Correctly

When you do park, the rules are precise:

• Park on the right-hand side of the road, in the same direction as the flow of traffic on that side — never facing oncoming traffic, because a vehicle parked the wrong way misleads other drivers at night (your reflectors face the wrong direction) and pulls out into traffic blindly.
• Apply the handbrake (parking brake) every time you leave the vehicle; on a hill, leave a manual vehicle in gear (first gear facing uphill, reverse facing downhill) and turn the front wheels toward the kerb or edge as a final safeguard against rolling.
• Switch off the engine, remove the key, and check mirrors and blind spots before opening your door — opening a door into the path of a cyclist or motorcycle is the driver's fault.
• At night on unlit roads, avoid parking on the carriageway at all; if unavoidable, use parking lights and keep the vehicle as far off the road as possible.

"No Parking" vs "No Stopping"

These two restrictions are frequently confused, and the exam exploits the difference:

• No parking means you may not leave the vehicle standing, but you may stop briefly to pick up or set down passengers, or to load and unload goods, provided you do not obstruct traffic and the stop is genuinely momentary.
• No stopping (often shown by a clearway-style sign or continuous edge marking) is absolute: you may not halt at all, not even for a second to drop a passenger — exceptions exist only for emergencies, to avoid a collision, or when directed by police or traffic signals.

So a driver who stops under a "no stopping" sign "just to let someone out" has committed the offence, while the same brief stop under a "no parking" sign may be perfectly legal. Watch the signs, and when in doubt, find a proper parking place.