A member of parliament resigned on Monday after a series of run-ins with Traffic Police for drunk driving. His resignation would probably not have happened if the President had not weighed in on the issue during the weekend. In recent years, Traffic Police has led many campaigns like ‘Gerayo Amahoro’ to educate the masses especially drivers on the dangers of drunk driving. In some of those campaigns, police provided a toll free line where people who had been drinking alcohol would call for a driver to take them home instead of getting on the steering wheel while drunk. Due to the campaigns, there has been significant reduction in accidents caused by drunk drivers according to statistics from the Rwanda National Police. However, the duty to enforce and abide by traffic regulations should not be left to the Police alone but has to be a concerted effort by everyone including government officials. The resignation of the parliamentarian also brought into question the conduct of some senior Government officials who have been using their positions to flout laws yet they should be at the forefront of abiding by them. As people entrusted with authority, public officials especially those with some sort of immunity should not use that to break laws. The police must be commended for the determination and commitment with which they are implementing traffic regulations. Next, law enforcement should seriously take another look at the road users who are in the habit of talking and texting on their phones while driving. Recent research has confirmed that the percentages of road accidents caused by drunk driving are exactly the same as those resulting from drivers using their phones on the road. This is an issue that requires urgent attention and measures from the national police in the same way as drunk driving is being tackled.
