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Commuter Omnibuses parked at Copacabana Rank along Chinhoyi Street in the CBD blocking surrounding streets

FOR how long shall the cat and mouse games between traffic police and public transport operators, particularly kombi crews, continue risking the lives of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans who use this mode of transport on a daily basis?As we report elsewhere in this issue a young woman needlessly lost her life yesterday when the kombi she was travelling in overturned along Greendale Drive in Harare during a high-speed chase with a police motorbike while another passenger died in similar circumstances along Simon Mazorodze Road.

Both parties to the tragedy were to blame. While the police have a duty to tame the traffic jungle they have a responsibility to act rationally. It was highly irresponsible for the police officers in question to go on high-speed chases with laden kombi through residential areas yet there were several remedies at their disposal.

The officers could simply have taken down the vehicle number plate and made follow-ups at the Central Vehicle Registry as to the identity of the owners who would in turn identify the drivers.

Secondly the officers could have radioed colleagues at another station to intercept the kombis given that they were  aware of the routes they use.

On the drivers’ part, it was illegal to disobey lawful police orders let alone flee when ordered to stop.
The actions of the protagonists in this case point to a deeper problem that, unless urgently addressed is bound to cost more lives in the long run.

Reports abound of the extortionate behaviour of some traffic police officers on the roads who daily terrorise transport operators, but precious little seems to be done by the powers that be.

We welcome the blitzes being launched by the anti-corruption unit but feel more needs to be done to ensure that money does not change hands on the streets but tickets are issued and payments made at the nearest police stations.

Defective vehicles should not be allowed to continue the journey but should be immediately pulled off the road and impounded.
It’s a wonder why, given the intensity of policing on the roads, defective vehicles still travel the roads. This means either the police are not doing their work or money is changing hands; all of which puts the lives of unsuspecting commuters at risk.

The woman who died yesterday is someone’s child, could be someone’s wife, probably had kids waiting for her at home; but her life was cruelly cut simply because simple rules were not followed.

The buck has to stop somewhere, and let those with the responsibility to bring sanity on the roads get off their laurels. We have allowed this problem to fester for so long.

It is said the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. We have faith in our good men and women in uniform, they should bring sanity on the roads.