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Service roads are of no use in Dar

OF late there has been a culture among motorists to drive on the service roads in Dar es Salaam to avoid traffic jams or simply because there are alternative roads to beat snarl-ups on the main roads.

The behaviour has gone to the extent that the service roads as well as pedestrian ways along the major roads, especially Nelson Mandela Expressway have become parking bays for trailers in the evening hours without anyone fearing being booked by the hawk eyed Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS).

To worsen the situation, none wants to know that they are meant to provide an extra lane for vehicles to pull over in case of an emergency.

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In the mess, the drivers park the trucks and leave for the nights without realising that this habit blocks roads, which are public facilities to be used/accessed in case of emergencies.

Before you question why the mess must continue in the city as you walk on the Pedestrian Lane, within a skin of your teeth, you are missed by an overtaking motorist(s) who would dare hoot or just ignore that you must be alert that it is another highway for them to speed and you are simply intruding onto the road.

As you curse the driver, approaching daladala with full lights forces you to clear the way and as you try to duck to the other side of the road, you are hurled all sorts of epithets by a bodaboda narrowly missing ascending on you.

The whole scene is pure madness to whoever would think of walking on the pedestrian lane or trying to access the service lane in an attempt to rush a sick person to hospital.

It is chaos now being witnessed every day on the service roads along Nelson Mandela Expressway with law enforcement entities appearing not to take any concrete steps to rectify the situation.

An observation conducted by this newspaper for the past four months has witnessed what one can term as total madness on the service roads as one drives or walks along the Dar es Salaam Port Access Road, leaving many questions unanswered just in case an accident occurs, where would be the alternative way to escape.

Surely, why must the city residents live in this situation and authorities tasked to provide law and order, are not showing any sign weeding this out?

Tanzania loses approximately 3.4 per cent of its GDP in caring for traumatised victims and burying casualties, according to analyses by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GSRP) and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).

Police as well as TANROADS must now show no mercy to these motorists and truck owners allowing their vehicles to be parked on service roads, which are purely meant to allow access in case of emergencies.