English
Kinyarwanda
Public institutions charged with regulating road transport and ensuring safety have adopted new guidelines to check on errant drivers and tackle issues that cause road traffic accidents.
The new measures which include revising road traffic-related laws and confiscating drivers’ licence of any one that caused an accident were reached in a meeting that brought together ministers James Musoni of Infrastructure, Sheikh Mussa Fazil Harerimana of Internal Security, James Kabarebe of Defence, Johnstone Busingye Justice, Francis Kaboneka of Local Government and Dr. Agnes Binagwaho of Health.
The meeting held on August 11 at the Rwanda National Police headquarters was also attended by provincial and City of Kigali governors, Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency (RURA), heads and representatives of transport companies, commercial motorcycle cooperatives, driving schools and insurance companies.
Others measures adopted include multiplying up to nine times penalties, tough penalties to anyone caught speaking on phone while driving, establishing roadside stations and scaling up the issuance of vocational cards to regulate performance of drivers which has succeeded in the City of Kigali, and monitoring hours of operations of drivers.
Other include establishing humps and erecting signposts in hotspots, enforcing technical control of vehicles and installing speed governors in public and heavy trucks, increasing deployment of Police facilities and traffic officers on highways, conducting awareness campaigns on road safety and scaling up disaster response services in regions.
The Minister for Infrastructure James Musoni said most road accidents registered since April this year were due to carelessness of drivers, who, despite repeated calls, continue to over speed, overtake in dangerous corners and speak on phone when driving, a thing that has continued to cause fatal accidents and loss of lives.
“There should be an inspection before a vehicle hits the road to know its status and that of the driver because some drivers are sometimes drunk or are in a state where they shouldn’t be driving. No driver or vehicle should leave the terminal without going through this inspection and the government through Police, will ensure that this is enforced and respected,” Minister Musoni said.
“The timeframe and standards of installing speed governors will be communicated later but other measures take immediate effect,” he added.
These new measures were welcomed by heads of transport companies who said it will help to have professional drivers and reduce loses.
“These are good resolutions; speed governors will help us a lot. We also request that Police becomes so strict on drivers who drive while speaking on phone and drive at a very high speed to fighting for passengers,” Lodovic Dodo Twahirwa, said.
Transport companies also welcomed the idea of sticking number plates inside vehicle to help passengers report reckless drivers, drivers to always leave their mobile phones at their work stations, refresher courses on code of ethics and defensive driving and scaling up the allocation of transport routes to public travel agencies, which has worked better in the City of Kigali.
Passengers were also urged to be responsible and report drivers who put their lives at risk, by calling the Police hotlines to report them.
The Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana also explained that the Police toll-free lines like the emergency 112 line has the capacity to receive about 20 calls at a go.
During the meeting, the Ministry of Health also explained on the current Ebola plague which has so far claimed about 900 people in West Africa.
Dr. Patrick Ndimubanzi, State Minister for Public and Primary Health Care confirmed that there is no Ebola in Rwanda adding that only suspected case has been isolated pending medical examinations that have since been sent abroad for testing.
He said that the Ministry has taken various precautions including deploying medics at entry points to screen suspected Ebola cases and has set up focal points and response teams in all district hospitals.
Dr. Binagwaho also urged Rwandans to give no room for rumours and to report anyone they suspect of having Ebola signs by calling the established hotline – 114.
