Focus police crackdown on errant matatu drivers

Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere should order his officers not to relent in the crackdown on public service vehicles that are breaching traffic regulations.

While there is a cynical twist to the current crackdown, coming as it so often does on the back of terrible accidents that caught national attention, it is important that it be intensified.

Traffic police should remain vigilant at all times and resist the temptation to accept bribes from drivers only for the latter to kill scores of passengers hours later courtesy of their recklessness.

Passengers can also influence the behaviour of drivers by refusing to squeeze into overloaded vehicles. Matatu owners have also become adept at crying wolf every time such a crackdown ensues, claiming police use it as an excuse to extort money from them. While there may be some truth in this, it is also a fact that most matatus no longer have speed limiters, and the few that do have tampered with the gadgets to ensure they drive above the recommended 80Kph.

Matatu owners also tend to hide their vehicles for the duration of a crackdown, only to return them to the road once the hue and cry is over.

notorious black spots

But the police swoop should also target drivers and touts who have no licences.

The main cause of accidents involving matatus is driver error rather than roads, although there are sections on various highways that are notorious black spots.

Ultimately, the answer to ending carnage on our roads is through passing tough legislation by Parliament to return sanity to the matatu industry that is currently ruled by lawless cartels.

Unless matatu owners know they stand to lose their investments, it is unlikely any police crackdown will have a lasting effect.