The culture of silence and lack of knowledge about passenger rights coupled with lenient traffic police, over speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol continue to cause more road accidents and eventual loss of lives.
Coaster buses of major transport companies plying upcountry routes have in the recent past adopted supersonic speeds just trying to prove the strength of the six cylinder engines.
Whenever you try to demand the cutting down of such high speed, you are immediately rebuked by the driver and some passengers who only think of reaching their final destination in the shortest time possible irrespective of the fatal consequences that could arise.
Very few drivers exhibit proper discipline and respect for order. Drivers threaten to refund money to passengers whom they find insisting on proper driving discipline.
There is always minimal intervention from other passengers who prefer to remain silent because of the general feeling that they don’t own the car and the general feeling that it’s a favour to be driven in such a car.
Traffic police has on many occasions stopped such over speeding cars but prefer to walk away to a distance with such drivers and eventually the driver returns to the car and over speeds again.
This to many rightful thinking passengers is a signal that there is something wrong and or suspicious about traffic police.
Driving under the influence of alcohol remains unchecked especially on weekends and night time. Traffic police should deploy on the roads during weekends like its done other working days.
The traffic Police should not only stop drivers because of over speeding or overloading but should regularly ask passenger vehicles to pullover and sensitize passengers on their rights. Only 2minutes are enough to deliver such messages.
Age should be pertinent in determining a bus driver. The lack of psychological relation of youthful driver to senior citizen as a passenger makes it impossible for such young drivers to exhibit road discipline and respect for lives of passengers.
Because most drivers are young they have become crafty on the steering wheel. They have developed signs to communicate presence or absence of traffic police ahead and thus making it easy to drive according to information provided—in most cases over speed when there is no traffic police ahead.
Passengers in most cases cannot easily notice the speed of the car but non passengers outside can easily notice how fast the car is zooming. It should thus be a combined effort by both passengers and other road users to report an over speeding car or any reckless driver.
Although Police keeps calling upon passengers and the public to report any traffic violation by drivers and motorcyclists, the largest challenge is for the traffic police.
They should deploy a mobile traffic unit on every road. Probably they should also deploy plain cloth police in all passenger cars to directly deal with undisciplined drivers.
The Police week should also conduct such sensitization on passenger rights, and road discipline and encourage all road users to play a key role in reporting any road user malpractices.
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