AAT calls for law to regulate motorcycles, three wheelers
BY LYDIA SHEKIGHENDA
Automobile Association of Tanzania has appealed to the government to enact a law that would require all motorcycles and three wheelers licensed as public service vehicles to be painted with reflective yellow colour in efforts to minimise accidents.
AAT president Nizar Jivan made the appeal in Dar es Salaam yesterday at the launching of Boda Boda and Bajaj training which will involve 1,000 riders from Dar es Salaam.
He said painting the motorcycles and three wheeler vehicles before issuing them with road licenses will not only reduce the number of accidents but also identify the vehicles and help the government to collect additional revenue.
Jivan said the move would also help police to identify the licensed public service vehicles (motorcycles and three wheelers).
He said according to statistics, accidents involving motorcycles and three wheelers exceeded 23 percent in the past two years, causing more loss of lives and inflicting disabilities.
Jivan said with assistance from the Federal International De’ Automobile (FIA), AAT and other local partners will provide free training in driving signage techniques to a 1000 riders in the next six months.
“The pilot programme will start in Dar es Salaam next month for motorcycles and three wheeler riders who do not have official driving licences,” Jivan said.
He added that apart from the training AAT with the help of traffic police the department will also fix yellow reflective stickers on motorcycles and three wheelers for night vision to reduce accidents and create awareness.
“So far we have only 20,000 stickers and we will start to fix them officially from next week …we call upon other stakeholders to support this move so as we can reach many motorcycles and three wheelers,” he said.
For his part Chief Traffic Police Mohammed Mpinga commended AAT for sponsoring the training.
He said since the government approved motorcycles and three wheelers to be used as public service vehicles in 2009 there has been a big increase in accidents.
Mpinga said the training will help to reduce the number of motorcycle accidents and contribute to the United Nations call to member states to reduce deaths and injuries by 50 percent by 2020.
He said that the training will be one of the highlights during the road safety week which will commence on September 17 to 22 and held at national level in Iringa.
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