For many drivers, the most dangerous part of a journey is not speeding or reckless overtaking. It is the moment an oncoming vehicle appears with lights so bright that the road ahead disappears into a wall of glare.
That brief loss of visibility lasting only a second or two can be enough to miss a pedestrian, drift out of a lane or collide with another vehicle.
Commercial driver Aziz knows that feeling all too well.
He recalls a recent trip when the intense glare from an oncoming vehicle’s lamp forced him off his lane, nearly causing an accident.
“The light was so bright that I couldn’t see clearly. I almost veered off the road,” he says, adding that he supports the current efforts to remove such lamps from vehicles.
Abdul Rashid shares a similar experience. Returning home from work one evening, he says he narrowly escaped a crash after being momentarily blinded by an approaching vehicle using an excessively bright lamp.
Stories like theirs are becoming increasingly common, particularly on highways and single-carriage roads where drivers depend heavily on clear visibility to navigate safely.
Yet for some motorists, installing these lamps is a matter of necessity rather than preference.
Several drivers argue that deteriorating road conditions, riddled with potholes and uneven surfaces, have forced them to seek brighter lighting to spot hazards ahead.
“When the roads are in this condition, especially at night, these lights help us avoid potholes and prevent accidents,” one driver explained.
Another appealed to government to improve road infrastructure, insisting that smoother roads would reduce the need for additional lighting.
“If the roads were fixed, we wouldn’t feel the need to install these lamps. We just want to travel safely,” he said.
The debate highlights a difficult balance between improving a driver’s own visibility and ensuring that other road users are not put at risk.
It is against this backdrop that the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) has embarked on an operation in Tamale to remove unauthorized vehicle lamps. The exercise forms part of a nationwide directive aimed at reducing the dangers associated with non-compliant lighting systems.
According to the MTTD, many of the lamps being removed produce glare that can temporarily impair the vision of oncoming motorists, increasing the likelihood of road crashes.
Officers say the exercise is intended not only to enforce regulations but also to educate drivers about safer alternatives.
The department is urging motorists with faulty or inadequate headlights to replace them with approved lighting systems rather than install unauthorized modifications.
For Aziz, the crackdown is a welcome intervention.
“Nobody should lose their life because another vehicle’s lights are too bright,” he says.
As authorities continue the exercise, the voices from the road tell a more complex story. One where infrastructure challenges, driver choices and public safety intersect.
Whether through better roads, compliant vehicle modifications or stronger enforcement, many agree that the ultimate goal is the same: making every journey safer for everyone.
By Nadra Mohammed
