Tanzania: Regulator Plans Special Driving Permits to Check Indiscriminate Accidents

By Nelly Mtema in Dodoma

LAND Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA) plans issuance of special professional driving permits to commercial vehicle drivers to reduce road accidents.

The permit is an additional document to ordinary driving licence and is issued to commercial

transporters of goods, dangerous goods and passengers, with conditions that may include medical certification.

LATRA Director General Gilliard Ngewe, speaking to transport stakeholders' meeting here yesterday, said the plan is in line with a tripartite agreement and will open up new doors for local drivers into the Common Markets for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Development Community (SADC)and East African Community (EAC).

The meeting was convened to review and deliberate on land transport regulatory authority- certification of commercial vehicle drivers and registration of crew-regulations of 2019.

The proposed regulations, if endorsed, put both the driver and crew liable for any land transport misconduct.

According to the document, the certified drivers will be issued with the documents, which will be subject for re-newal in every three years and will carry a special pin to easily identify the beneficiary.

Additionally, the authority will provide a special, nontransferable identification key that must be kept in order. In Africa, the arrangement is already applied in South Africa where commercial vehicle drivers are required to apply for the permit to drive on the country's public roads.

Mr Ngewe explained however that the new identification key will also require permit holders to ensure the entertainments provided for instance comply with norms and culture.

"This also means that there won't be unregistered businesses like preaching services or political activities throughout the transporting facility," he said.

He noted further, "This will be easy for owner or administrator to know the name of the driver and vehicle for easy tracking record, with offences recorded in the point system for proper action."

Road safety commentators quickly welcomed the new arrangements, maintaining that it will help to reduce reckless driving that has resulted into countless road accidents in the country.

LATRA believes there are a number of offences that warrants suspension or cancellation of the certificate of authorisation if the driver undergoes two suspensions within the certificate's validity period.

Accidents that lead to serious injuries or deaths due to reckless driving, tempering with vehicle tracking system, driving under influence of alcohol or drugs and conviction in relation to offences against passengers or their properties may result into certificate cancellation.

The person seeking to work as crew in the commercial vehicle shall be accompanied with medical examination report from the medical practitioner and proof of basic training in one of the fields of transport, first aid, customer care or other related field.