Latra focuses on 'Special Hire' minibus operators to curb accidents
Minibuses for hire in Dar es Salaam. Photo | Courtesy
What you need to know:
- Following a spate of fatal accidents in December 2024, Latra is taking decisive action to improve road safety. An analysis revealed that five out of six fatal accidents involved special hire minibuses, highlighting the need for stricter enforcement.
Dar es Salaam. The Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra) has launched a programme targeting owners and drivers of special hire minibuses to curb the surge in road accidents witnessed in the country, particularly at the end of 2024.
The move follows a December assessment revealing that of the six accidents causing seven to 15 fatalities, only one involved a large bus, while the remaining five involved special hire minibuses.
In her New Year’s address on December 31, 2024, President Samia Suluhu Hassan revealed alarming statistics from the Tanzania Police Force.
“Between January and December, Tanzania recorded 1,735 accidents, claiming 1,715 lives and injuring 2,719. Human error caused 97 percent of these accidents, with driver negligence, reckless driving, and speeding responsible for 73.7 percent,” said President Hassan.
She urged the ministry of Home Affairs through the traffic police to intensify efforts to combat negligence.
Latra’s 2020 regulations mandate that special hire vehicles integrate with the Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) under regulation 20(b), allowing the authority to track and identify drivers using a driver identification button (i-button). Regulation 9(2) also requires Latra to ensure that special hire buses use the i-button and that drivers maintain safety.
Latra's Public Relations and Communications Manager, Mr Salum Pazzy, reported on January 3, 2025, that many special hire minibuses fraudulently picked up individual passengers in December, citing a shortage of transport services.
He explained that these vehicles, licensed for special hire, should not operate as regular buses.
“They must be hired, not used for picking up passengers as large buses do,” he clarified.
To address this, Latra has launched a strategic operation with police and mechanics to establish checkpoints along key routes.
“We will register driver identification buttons at some of these checkpoints to streamline the process,” he said, mentioning ongoing efforts to combat fraud in the Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) and ensure compliance through monitoring and fines.
Latra has reminded drivers and owners of special hire minibuses to register their i-buttons by January 12, 2025, or face penalties.
A special hire minibus driver, Mr Habibu Ramadhani, expressed concerns about the lack of training on using the identification button.
“When Latra officers inspect us and see we haven’t pressed the button, they impose fines,” he said, noting that the system doesn’t show when a driver enters or exits the vehicle.
He suggested that drivers should be trained before being held accountable.
The driver’s association chairman, Mr Eustack Msoka, supported Latra’s efforts to reduce accidents.
“We’ve agreed to limit our speed to 80 kilometres per hour,” he said, emphasising the importance of driver education and exams to prevent accidents.
He endorsed the VTS system and driver identification buttons as vital safety tools.
However, he questioned whether trucks receive the same level of monitoring, suggesting that such oversight could address the root causes of truck-related accidents.
According to Mr Msoka, passengers sometimes exceed the recommended number in the special hire minibuses, noting that drivers prefer to carry extra passengers for personal gain.
“For example, when we are hired from Dar to Bukoba with 15 passengers, the hirers may add two or three more people on the way to earn extra money,” he said.
