3.1 Traffic Lights & Police Hand Signals

Traffic Lights & Police Hand Signals

Quick Answer: Ghana's Highway Code gives each traffic light a fixed meaning: red means stop behind the stop line, green means go only if the way is clear, and a steady amber means stop at the line, unless the amber appears after you have already crossed the line or you are too close to stop safely. Flashing amber means proceed with caution and yield. Signals from a Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) police officer always override traffic lights, road signs, and road markings.

Traffic lights control the flow of vehicles and pedestrians at busy junctions in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, and other Ghanaian cities. Because the DVLA theory test draws signal questions from the same Road Signs and Signals block of the Highway Code as the sign questions, you must know exactly what each phase means — including the amber phase that trips up even experienced drivers.

The Traffic Light Sequence in Ghana

The Ghana Highway Code (Ministry of Roads and Transport, 1974) illustrates the traffic-light signals on page 39 of the printed booklet. A November 2024 Graphic Online column quoted the Code's own wording after a dispute over a traffic officer's reading of the amber light, and in December 2025 the National Road Safety Authority repeated that under the Code amber means stop at the stop line. Amber always comes between green and red:

green → amber → red.

One phase causes most of the confusion on Ghana's roads. Amber is not a "prepare to go" signal and it is not simply "speed up." The Code's own wording gives amber the same stop duty as red, with one narrow exception: you may continue only if the amber shows after you have already crossed the stop line, or if you are already so close to it that braking sharply would risk a collision. Treat every other amber as a stop — accelerating to "beat the amber" is both illegal and a classic exam wrong answer.

Remember also that green means go only if the way is clear. A green light is permission to proceed, not a guarantee that the junction is empty — always check for vehicles still clearing the intersection and for pedestrians.

Exam note: some revision materials copy the UK Highway Code's extra "red and amber together" phase, shown just before green. The Ghana Highway Code wording quoted above does not settle whether Ghanaian signals use that phase, so do not build answers on it — but if red and amber ever show together, it still means stop: move off only when green shows.

Current-law qualification: Regulation 133 of the Road Traffic Regulations 2026 (L.I. 2519) permits a right turn on red only where it does not conflict with traffic moving on green, a pedestrian crossing, or a red right-arrow signal. Driving straight through a red light remains prohibited. See the legal-publisher reproduction of Regulation 133.

Flashing Amber and Green Filter Arrows

Not every amber belongs to the normal cycle. A flashing amber light at a junction or pedestrian crossing means proceed with caution: you may move through, but you must slow down and yield to pedestrians and to any traffic lawfully in the junction. It is a warning, not a stop command — but it is not a free pass either.

A green filter arrow, shown beside or below the main lights, tells you that traffic may move in the direction the arrow points, even while other movements are held at red. You may go only in that direction and only from the lane the arrow controls. If the arrow is not lit and the main light is red, wait unless a right turn is permitted under Regulation 133: yield to traffic with green and to pedestrians, and obey any red right-arrow signal — a green arrow for one stream never releases the others.

When Traffic Lights Fail

Signals occasionally fail in Ghana — power outages and faults leave junctions dark, sometimes at the busiest hours. The rule is simple:

1. Treat the junction as an uncontrolled junction.
2. Slow down or stop, then apply the normal right-of-way rules: give way where required and proceed only when it is safe.
3. Watch for other drivers who may not slow down — never assume they will.
4. If an MTTD officer is directing traffic at the failed junction, follow the officer's hand signals, not any lights that are still partially working or flashing.

MTTD Police Hand Signals

The Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service directs traffic at major intersections, crash scenes, funerals, public events, and whenever lights fail. You must be able to read an officer's signals at a glance:

• Officer facing you with palm raised toward you — stop. Traffic approaching from the officer's front must halt.
• Officer with arm extended, beckoning or waving you on — proceed in the direction indicated.
• Officer standing side-on to you, signalling the other stream — hold your position until the officer turns and signals you.

Approach any officer-controlled junction slowly enough that you can stop comfortably if the raised palm turns toward you.

The Priority Order: A Classic Exam Trap

The DVLA test loves this question. When traffic control devices conflict, obey them in this strict order of authority:

1. Police hand signals (highest authority)
2. Traffic lights
3. Road signs
4. Road markings (lowest authority)

So if an MTTD officer waves you through while the light shows red, you must follow the officer — the officer outranks the light. Disobeying a police signal is an offence even when you are technically "following the light." Commit the order police > lights > signs > markings to memory; it answers a whole family of exam questions.

Key Points to Remember

• Green means go only if the way is clear — permission, not a guarantee.
• Amber is a stop command at the stop line, not an invitation to accelerate or a signal to get ready to go.
• Flashing amber means caution and yield, not a mandatory stop.
• A green filter arrow protects only the movement it points to.
• At failed lights, the junction becomes uncontrolled until a police officer takes over.