English
Kinyarwanda
Police in Nyarugenge District have made a clarion call to motorists to drive responsibly by strictly following road traffic rules.
The call was made yesterday by senior superintendent of police (SSP) Emmanuel Manimba at Nyamirambo stadium while meeting about 100 commercial taxi drivers operating in the central business district as part of the ongoing ‘gerayo amahoro’ campaign.
SSP Manimba who is also the officers in-charge of traffic operations in the traffic and road safety department if police was reacting to arguments by drivers which faulted pedestrians for causing accidents.
“Too often, pedestrians engage in multitasking and read or text while crossing intersections. This behavior disrupts traffic patterns and puts the pedestrian and the drivers at great risk” said one Dieudonne Maniraguha a taxi driver in Nyamirambo sector.
He said pedestrians often times cross against the light even when a crosswalk signal is flashing “Do Not Walk,” some pedestrians cross anyway.
Albert Ngabonziza his colleague however, said drivers have their equal share of blame mentioning that “if a person is crossing the street against the light and the driver who hits her/him is exceeding the speed limit, they may share fault”.
SSP Manimba said that ‘Gerayo amahoro’ is an all-encompassing campaign that targets every road user but challenged drivers of greater responsibility because there are “trained and licensed to user the road”.
He said many drivers have been reprimanded for exceeding the recommended alcohol consumption and many were found to be heavily intoxicated with alcohol.
