Shimbo Pastory
This article was published in The Citizen Newspaper – Tanzania on 16th August, 2022.
It is scary how road accidents have become a condiment of our daily conversations. Many people talk about them because they are in one way or another affected by them.
Families lose their loved ones, and the nation loses its human resource and labour force. It is a sad reality, but the truth is that most of those painful incidents could be avoided.
While in other places people are cracking their brains to minimize possible chances of even minor injuries like cuts and abrasions, at the other corner of the round mother earth some people are deliberately risking their own lives and many other lives entrusted to them upon trust that they will always behave as responsible people.
It was sad hearing that some of our bus drivers joyed in exchanging driving sides as they come across each other; what appeared to be fun ended as a national tragedy, seeing innocent people lose their lives and others left with permanent conditions because of the irresponsibility of these drivers and their supervisors.
Not long ago we heard the trend of some Dar-Iringa-Mbeya-Tunduma route buses competing on who arrives before others, especially in Iringa. This too did not end well.
People’s lives are endangered just to glorify a bus company. It is fun when one is not on those buses. There are also many other accidents involving daladalas, trucks as well as motorcycles and private vehicles.
Deadly risks
I recall going on a bus (name withheld) from Dar to Mbeya, and I was given the very first seat at the door. It was late in the evening hours as we approached Mbeya that a traffic police officer told me I was not supposed to sit there. My lack of awareness was traded for a mere Sh. 40,000 fare in exchange for that very dangerous spot on the bus.
I also recall boarding a shuttle Noah from Moshi to Rombo where the driver was too drunk to walk. He actually came in holding delicately onto the body of the car. He looked tired, his eyes were red, sleepy, and he could hardly speak properly, yet his confidence was above the roof. I had to step out for good.
The common problem
The biggest problem among vehicular road users is lack of consideration. Many tend to forget that at different points in time, a driver can be a pedestrian, a pedestrian can be a motorcyclist, and a truck driver can be a cyclist, and in the riskier state, everyone will expect that he or she be kept safe as they use the roads.
The status of vulnerable road users is thus not fixed for certain people. This is why everyone needs to be disciplined in dealing with these complicated moving machines whose efficiency and safety no one can ascertain.
Discipline is a very crucial aspect of social development. It never fails to give an impression of who we are as a people when foreigners visit us.
Discipline is also a mark of our seriousness in attaining our socio-economic goals. Of what use are the roads and railways we build if we use them carelessly and inconsiderately to our peril?
It’s shameful when we visit countries where the majority of people have a token of discipline engrained in them.
Coming from a background where a vehicular road user is superior on the roads, one is struck with fear and disbelief seeing that such discipline as stopping at traffic lights and appropriately giving way to crossing pedestrians at crossings is possible even in the absence of traffic police.
Tightening the loop
We should reach a point where dangerous driving will no longer be solved ‘as usual’ by the roadside. More stringent measures can be put in place and maintained.
Some drivers should no longer be permitted to drive taxis, buses and other highway transporter vehicles, especially those who are repeat offenders in over-speeding and drunk driving. People keep committing these offences because they inexpensively and quickly get off the loop by the roadside when stopped by traffic officers.
Some drivers will have to be jailed, or banned altogether; this is just to keep other road users safe. It brings so much anxiety to vulnerable persons, the elderly, those with mobility difficulties and children when they or people around them are worried about the unprecedented occurrences on our roads.
Parents too are stressed by the reality that their children are not safe on the roads in their absence.
These road accidents present among the young ones a very sour image of the adult population.
Adults are trusted with licenses because they have learnt to manage those vehicles skillfully and responsibly. The present image does not exemplify a nation that wishes to have a responsible future generation. Our roads need to be safe places for everyone, just like our homes.
