Over 82 700 motorists arrested during police blitz

Crime Reporter

More than 82 700 motorists have been arrested countrywide for committing traffic, licensing and motoring offences under the ongoing operation “Tame the Traffic jungle”, which was necessitated by the lawlessness on the roads especially in major cities and towns.

The police operation targeting unregistered and unlicenced vehicles, operators offering public transport without proper licencing, and those breaching other traffic regulations is still continuing until further notice.

Along with not registering vehicles or keeping licenses up to date, there are public transport offences of unlicensed mushikashika and kombis, and traffic offences including drivers driving the wrong way down one-way roads in the face of oncoming traffic, through red robots and reckless lane violation.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said yesterday that a total of 82 742 arrests have been effected during the on-going operation. Of these. 2 092 arrests have been made for vehicles without route permits while 25 420 arrests have been made on illegal pirate taxis, the mushikashika.

“A total of 420 motorists have been arrested for reckless driving, while 6 075 people have been arrested for touting.

“Meanwhile, 1 653 vehicles have been impounded for moving on the roads with no registration plates,” he said.

Flouting of laws had become routine, particularly in urban areas prompting the police, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Vehicle Inspection Department, the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and city councils to launch the co-ordinated operation.

Motorists and operators who want to reclaim their vehicles have to obtain all the required vehicle documents and be cleared by the Vehicle Theft Squad, VID and Zimra.

Police are also accounting for unroadworthy vehicles and public service vehicles which do not have legal documents such as insurance, route authority and certificate of fitness.

Vehicle owners who leave broken-down vehicles on the road while blocking traffic with some using tree branches and stones as warning signs instead of proper reflective triangles will not be spared.

Police are also taking action against illegal fittings on motor vehicles, for example, bar lights used in violation of Statutory Instrument 129 of 2015 Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use) Regulations.

Farming equipment such as tractors and combine harvesters driven on highways disregarding relevant regulating statutes will also be impounded.