3.1 Traffic Lights & Police Hand Signals

Traffic Lights & Police Hand Signals

Quick Answer: In Ghana, traffic lights cycle red → red and amber together → green → amber alone → red. A steady amber on its own means stop unless stopping would be unsafe. 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 every phase of the light sequence cold — including the combined phases that candidates most often get wrong.

The Standard Traffic Light Sequence

Ghanaian traffic lights follow the international three-colour sequence:

red → red and amber together → green → amber alone → back to red.

Two phases trap candidates most:

• Red and amber showing together does not mean go. It warns that the light is about to turn green; you may prepare — select a gear, release the handbrake — but you must not cross the stop line until green shows on its own.
• Amber alone means stop, exactly like red, unless you are already so close to the stop line that braking sharply would endanger traffic behind you. 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.

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, you must wait — 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 alone is a stop command, not an invitation to accelerate.
• 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.