By-The Police have arrested more than 360 bus drivers for driving above stipulated speed limits, the state media has reported.
These arrests come at a time when acting President Constantino Chiwenga has directed the Police to apprehend all drivers who are caught flouting the rules of the road.
in a statement Sunday, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said most of the arrests were made during the festive season. He said:
In a concerted effort to enforce road regulations and enhance public safety, law-enforcement authorities have arrested at least 368 bus drivers during this month alone for speeding.
Most of the arrests were made during the festive season holidays and we continue to urge bus drivers to respect the sanctity of life and their passengers.
In June , Transport minister Felix Mhona, promulgated Statutory Instrument 118 of 2023 which made it mandatory for passenger public service vehicles (buses/kombis) and other heavy vehicles to install speed limit and monitoring devices on their vehicles.
Public transport operators have until tomorrow, 01 January 2024, to comply with the Government directive to equip their vehicles with speed-limiting and monitoring devices.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail, the Zimbabwe Passenger Transport Organisation (ZPTO) urged public transport operators to comply with the new regulations. He said:
Bus operators are required to comply with this directive by January 1 by ensuring the installation of the necessary speed limiting and monitoring devices on their vehicles.
The tracking system has helped reduce the number of accidents. But we need to do more; we have operators who have not submitted their fleet and tracking numbers.
The Police must help us to enforce that. As bus operators, we have been disciplining our drivers internally.
The speed tracking system restricts the maximum speed of buses to 100km/h on open roads.
Bus operators and the ZRP have established a speed tracking centre at Harare Central Police Station to closely monitor the adherence of drivers to the prescribed speed limits.