With good road network, less number of accidents

ROAD safety situation in Tanzania is still alarming compared to other developing countries within Sub-Saharan region. This is because of the fact that, most drivers in the country are not efficient while driving their vehicles along the road thus resulting into the number of fatalities caused due to reckless driving. The situation is increasing year after year, and it’s higher in relation to other countries within the region. The gravity of the situation is billed to worsen as road traffic population increases. Tanzania Roads Association or TARA in short was formed with a view to help advice the government on the impending situation and put down various ways and strategies to address proper usage of roads but its efforts has ended up in vain.

The body of an unidentified passenger hanging by the driver’s door. The driver who is in yellow shirt crying in agony without help after having been trapped and unable to move after the accident.

Three people died instantly after the Daladala in which they were traveling involved in a head collision with a military vehicle recently at the hilly side near Ukonga prisons in Dar es Salaam. According to eye witnesses, the driver of the daladala was driving in high speed in an attempt to overtake the truck which had a refuse transporting to Pugu Kinyamwezi for emptying in a dumping site. Without the driver’s knowledge while in motion he suddenly came into contact face to face with a military truck which was veered off the road. According to traffic rules and regulations, it is a mistake to try to overtake on the hilly side. When I had arrived at the scene of the accident, and noticed what had happened, I took out my digital camera and quickly took some photos including of a dead man who up to the time of my arrival his body was still hanging by the driver’s door bleeding profusely. Good Samaritans were busy at the scene trying to save those few passengers who got trapped and calm down those who had fear and panic inside the bus in that miserable accident which had caused long traffic jam that morning of Saturday around 10:00 oc’lock. I quickly disembarked out of the daladala in which I was traveling at that time in order to take good photographs including the military vehicle, but I was undoubtedly prevented by some military officers who were already there looking in grim of panic and shock mourning for their driver who had lost one arm and was unconsciously lying down almost dead.

This is how the situation looked like, the wreckage of an ill-fitted daladala bus after the accident.

With the poor understanding of the use of the mass media, people at the scene tried to prevent me taking photos while others attempted to snatch my camera when I tried to take photographs of scores of passengers who sustained serious injuries while struggling down by the side of a road on the ground crying for pain. Some had their teeth knocked out, heads cut while others had their arms or legs broken. But despite of this, I managed to take one photo as you can see above that shows the driver of the daladala in this fateful incident crying for pain after having been trapped as people looked at him without any help. The driver who lost both his legs was removed out when one side of the door was cut by a drilling like cutting machine which was brought at the scene later.