Yesterday I learnt about the accident along Seke Road, which claimed 10 lives. When I read The Herald newspaper this morning I was upset by what some drivers said and I immediately updated my status on Facebook. This is what I wrote: e thinking about what my good friend Malvern Mkudu asked recently. If these drivers had warned this driver about his driving why did they not warn people not to board his kombi in the first place? Why were people left to expose themselves to danger? (Of course not everyone would know this driver's behaviour, especially those who do not stay along the route that he uses). Now they tell us they warned him when lives have been lost? Why did they not gang up against him and perhaps report him to the police? Or simply tell people not to board his kombi? This idea of fellow drivers revealing this information now angers me. A better story would be "Driver forced out of business by fellow drivers" (if people had totally avoided his kombi) or "Drivers take fellow to the police over reckless driving." Perhaps it would have been better if these drivers had kept quiet."
I was upset because these drivers apparently did not act on a fellow driver whose actions have now led to the death of 10 people. How many times do we let kombi drivers do anything on the road and we say "you know these kombi drivers; that's just how they are." We have accepted that they drive recklessly; they are a law unto themselves. We have normalised the abnormal. But the problem is that lives are being lost in the process.
I was more upset because I remembered how passengers sometimes give the drivers too much power and make them feel invincible. I have been insulted by other passengers in kombis because I had complained that the driver was driving too fast or he was overtaking in dangerous places. I have been told things like "Musatinetse pano. Vane motikari dzavo havakwiri makombi (Don't bother us, those with cars don't use kombis). What does owning a car have to do with road safety? Or with me trying to enforce my rights as a passenger? So, does this mean that if I do not have a car I do not have a right to demand that the driver drive carefully? Of course, I own a car (that Minister Patrick Chinamasa calls junk) but is there a law that says I should not use a kombi? And should I be explaining myself to other passengers or the touts? Really?
I remember an incident in March when I complained about the driver driving too fast and playing the radio too loudly. A passenger asked me "Munofunga kuti kuzora lipstick kunoshamisira here?" (Loosely translated: ''So, you think because you are wearing lipstick you are special?") I wondered what my lipstick had to do with anything. Then it dawned on me that I was confronted by an attitude that says "How dare you complain; who do you think you are?" I immediately thought of my experience in an Eagle Liner bus in August 2012. I had to board the bus because Pathfinder had cancelled their trip without notice. Passengers threw all manner of insults at me because I had dared to ask the driver to reduce the volume of the radio since it was late. I was asked whether I thought I was white. And only white people are allowed to complain? Is that not some sort of racism though? Where a fellow black chastises me for complaining simply because I am black? A woman said people that wear glasses think they are intelligent. The rest is unprintable. But the bottom line is the passengers resented the fact that I complained.
But why should I not complain? It is this attitude that gives the driver the green light to do as he pleases. My attitude is "I am paying for a service and I have a right to complain if I am not satisfied, more so if my life is at risk." But a complaint from one passenger is not enough.
Passengers need to demand good service from the driver or else they boycott the kombi. And the police have to enforce the rule that says you should not drive on a route except the one on your permit. If they do this, the driver will not be able to go to another route and put other lives at risk. And the police should also set up a hotline to report reckless driving and follow up on the cases.
So, let us use our power, which we have surrendered to these drivers. They should know they are driving people, not dried fish. We should not normalise the abnormal. We should stand up for our rights as passengers. Or we put them out of business. What happened to the Peugeot 404 emergency taxis? They disappeared and an alternative came along. So, if these kombis disappear we will get an alternative.
"I heard about the accident along Seke Road yesterday on Twitter. Of course it had just happened and the details were a bit scanty. But sad that 10 people died, 7 on the spot. Today I read in The Herald that fellow drivers said the driver of the kombi was fast, reckless. Apparently, some people had started avoiding his kombi. Drivers said they had warned him before about his driving. Now that got mI was upset because these drivers apparently did not act on a fellow driver whose actions have now led to the death of 10 people. How many times do we let kombi drivers do anything on the road and we say "you know these kombi drivers; that's just how they are." We have accepted that they drive recklessly; they are a law unto themselves. We have normalised the abnormal. But the problem is that lives are being lost in the process.
I was more upset because I remembered how passengers sometimes give the drivers too much power and make them feel invincible. I have been insulted by other passengers in kombis because I had complained that the driver was driving too fast or he was overtaking in dangerous places. I have been told things like "Musatinetse pano. Vane motikari dzavo havakwiri makombi (Don't bother us, those with cars don't use kombis). What does owning a car have to do with road safety? Or with me trying to enforce my rights as a passenger? So, does this mean that if I do not have a car I do not have a right to demand that the driver drive carefully? Of course, I own a car (that Minister Patrick Chinamasa calls junk) but is there a law that says I should not use a kombi? And should I be explaining myself to other passengers or the touts? Really?
I remember an incident in March when I complained about the driver driving too fast and playing the radio too loudly. A passenger asked me "Munofunga kuti kuzora lipstick kunoshamisira here?" (Loosely translated: ''So, you think because you are wearing lipstick you are special?") I wondered what my lipstick had to do with anything. Then it dawned on me that I was confronted by an attitude that says "How dare you complain; who do you think you are?" I immediately thought of my experience in an Eagle Liner bus in August 2012. I had to board the bus because Pathfinder had cancelled their trip without notice. Passengers threw all manner of insults at me because I had dared to ask the driver to reduce the volume of the radio since it was late. I was asked whether I thought I was white. And only white people are allowed to complain? Is that not some sort of racism though? Where a fellow black chastises me for complaining simply because I am black? A woman said people that wear glasses think they are intelligent. The rest is unprintable. But the bottom line is the passengers resented the fact that I complained.
But why should I not complain? It is this attitude that gives the driver the green light to do as he pleases. My attitude is "I am paying for a service and I have a right to complain if I am not satisfied, more so if my life is at risk." But a complaint from one passenger is not enough.
Passengers need to demand good service from the driver or else they boycott the kombi. And the police have to enforce the rule that says you should not drive on a route except the one on your permit. If they do this, the driver will not be able to go to another route and put other lives at risk. And the police should also set up a hotline to report reckless driving and follow up on the cases.
So, let us use our power, which we have surrendered to these drivers. They should know they are driving people, not dried fish. We should not normalise the abnormal. We should stand up for our rights as passengers. Or we put them out of business. What happened to the Peugeot 404 emergency taxis? They disappeared and an alternative came along. So, if these kombis disappear we will get an alternative.