DO we have traffic police within the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF)?
If so, who is in charge and what does the public expect of them?
There are many other questions that need to be asked of the traffic police as well as the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, which is responsible for the maintenance of our roads.
The way things are makes one wonder whether police know where the hotspots are in terms of daily congestions in Honiara? From observations, it does seem that traffic police do not understand what their main role is. Road users expect the police to ensure the safe and smooth movement of traffic on our roads every day 24/7.
It is a safety issue.
The public also expects police to know where the hotspots are, in terms of congestions during morning and evening peak hours. But knowing about these hotspots is not enough
Doing something about these hotspots to ease traffic congestions is the key to all these.
The bus stop on the eastern side of the Lunga Bridge is one hotspot that needs to be policed daily, particularly during peak hours. Buses and taxis, in particular, control the traffic flow there.
Buses and taxis simply make U-turns at will. This is a great source of frustration for people trying to get to work on time. As a result, traffic banks up, sometimes all the way to Henderson Market.
Motorists believe police should be there at peak hours every day to ensure traffic flows unimpeded. They also believe that police presence would deter offending drivers from imposing their own traffic rules on every other road user.
Any drivers trying to outsmart other road users should be issued infringement notices. Police have the power to do so. Lack of enforcing traffic rules is where the weakness lies.
There are other traffic areas where police have failed to do their duties. For example, due to the worsening conditions of our roads, buses, in particular, are driving their vehicles on footpaths. Not only is this dangerous to other road users but more so to the safety of pedestrians who use these footpaths.
Such practice is causing irreparable damage to our roads at the expense of taxpayers’.
It must stop.
