adminPatrick Chitumba Senior Reporter
POLICE say they have stopped using tyre-shredding spikes on road blocks as they are a danger to the lives of the members of the public. National police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi yesterday said the police always prioritise public safety. “As the police, we put public safety first and we are not going to use the spikes as they endanger the lives of members of the public,” he said.
Chief Supt Nyathi, however, warned commuter omnibus drivers against endangering the lives of passengers by speeding and trying to run away from road blocks.
He said it was worrying that commuter omnibus drivers misinterpret the presence of traffic police officers on the roads.
“When they see traffic officers on the road, they speed away and the question is why are they speeding away? If they see the traffic officers on the road, they should do like all other law abiding road users and wait for the officers to do their job,” said Chief Supt Nyathi.
He said when found on the wrong side of the law commuter omnibus drivers should wait for the law to take its course and challenged owners of commuter omnibuses to assist the police to do their work.
“Some of them are not licenced, some are underage, some have no route authority and some vehicles are defective and they expect the traffic officers to turn a blind eye. So we will not use the spikes to endanger the lives of the members of the public,” said Chief Supt Nyathi.
About two weeks ago, police were forced to defend their tactics after a commuter omnibus driver fleeing a roadblock along Old Khami Road in Bulawayo lost control of the vehicle and it overturned injuring passengers.
Online Reporter