When it comes to organisations that uphold traffic safety or inspire confidence in the law most motorists in Zimbabwe won’t be quick to mention the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).
That’s probably because they are a major source of pain and frustration for motorists through their countless roadblocks which are also hives of corruption.
To counter this, the Road Users Association, an association which was recently formed to address the excessive police roadblocks deployment on Zimbabwean roads has decided to use a simple online tool to keep an eye on these roadblocks.
The association has created a Google Form that can be used by motorists to enter traffic fine information.
This is meant to create a database which can be used as a record of any irregularities in traffic fines through the extortion of motorists.
This form essentially captures all the important info on the traffic fine such as the name of the officer, the offence, and the amount of money being collected.
It’s meant to expose the irregularities that have often been associated with the selective application of traffic laws.
According to the announcement of this form which was shared on Harare News’ Facebook page, this solution has been approved by lawyers as something that is legal.
RUA has opened up to questions or comments on this tool via its email address (roaduserszim@gmail.com) or on Facebook.
Through groups like RUA, the Zimbabwean traffic police have been called out for practices that include an excessive deployment of roadblocks as well as the alleged abuse of authority which is often a ploy to instigate bribery.
A tool like this Google Form is expected to go a long way in recording the frequency of such cases while providing a record of just how much is being shored up through traffic fines.
A case from improvement?
Though there hasn’t been any mention from RUA on how this idea might be iterated, it could also benefit from the use of other common solutions like a hotline WhatsApp number which can receive photos of fines as well as other social media platforms like Facebook.
Then again, those are ideas for the future. For now, it’s good to know that there’s some effort to monitor ZRP traffic.
You can access the form by clicking here
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11 comments
Great idea – they could create a web & mobile app around it like the waze app to tell people of road blocks in zimbabwe plus the fine reporting – a charge of $1 per month can be charged for the service plus advertising
+1
+2
It may also be useful to have a WhatsApp number for motorists to share the location of police road blocks to alert other motorists about speed traps, ZBC licence, and other types.
Taura hako
Not to mention an online database of traffic offenders that can be useful in a few years in the right hands
Great idea! Especially when from Zanu Pf HQ to Mbare l was recently stopped 6 times, oppossite the stadium they were so desperate to get money out of me they pointed out that my front reflectors are faded, l ask him to prove his case since it was during the day and since his eyes where not light bulbs
By the way, l always take my car to VID for safety checking every four months, it cost me 20 bucks but its my health and l always ask them to do proper checking.
So everytime l get stopped and police are being fun, l always hand them the VID blue check form.
I always say to cure tb cough don’t use a cough mixture you use anti tb tablets. with traffic cops if I know they are lying about my offense I simply say no I am not paying anything! as usual they say okay you can go. just don’t pay any bribes. just make sure your vehicle is road worthy.
Hausati wasangana nemapurisa epa chaka kana gutu turn off ndopauchaona ipapo kkkkkkk
paroad block hapamirwi, police yedu itorai mari united, famba nephotocopy yelicence iri certified wapedza
First day here I was stopped and fined $60, I was told my car was faulty as the window winder was missing. I was stopped 6 times yesterday…