Last straw awaits drunk drivers

A special committee tasked with drafting strategies to ease road accidents has recommended revoking of licences of drunk drivers and introduction of road safety syllabi from primary to secondary schools.

According to police statistics, road accidents have not only increasing in number but rather in the damage and fatality they cause with recent reports showing they have claimed over 1,000 lives in the past three months alone and cost the country over 3tr/- last year.

The special committee presented its report to the Minister for Transport, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe and Minister for Labour and Employment, Mrs Gaudentia Kabaka in Dar es Salaam on Friday.

“We have established that one of the major causes of road accidents in the country is reckless driving mostly caused by drunk drivers, hence the need to have strict laws and regulations to address the problem,” said the Acting Chairman of the Committee, Mr Augustino Shio when presenting the report.

The committee also called for strict laws that will ensure drivers do not take a single drop of alcohol when driving by introducing special devices that will help to easily detect people driving under the influence. “Most drivers once drunk ignore road signs and other road users and thus become reckless,” he said.

The committee has also suggested the establishment of a syllabus in schools to help create awareness among the young population on the proper use of roads in efforts to curb accidents.

Mr Shio said that the committee identified other challenges leading to road accidents as a lack of adherence to road signs to ensure safety of all road users, poor roadworthiness of vehicles and bad infrastructures.

The committee also recommended the possibility of extending the time for buses to travel and embark on the use of technology to govern speed.

According to Mr Shio, use of speed governors should be reintroduced and drivers should be regularly inspected.

Speaking shortly after receiving the report, Dr Mwakyembe said that the report will be presented to various institutions, ministries and other stakeholders to come up with lasting solution to road accidents.

On her part, Minister Kabaka commended the committee for a job well done, saying that the solutions suggested will help curb accidents.

The committee composed of 12 persons was formed by minister of transport mainly to find and draft concrete strategies that would curb road accidents.

It included Permanent Secretaries Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Works, Tanzania Revenue Authority Commissioner General, Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority Commissioner and the Principal from the National Institute of Transport.

Others are Tanzania Roads Agency Chief Executive Officer, Sumatra Director General, Vocational Education and Training Authority General, TABOA representatives and Presidential Delivery Bureau and TATOA representative.

BY ANNE ROBI, Tanzania Daily News