Police impound minibuses
Traffic police from the Southern Region Police Headquarters on Monday impounded 70 minibuses in Blantyre City for contravening various road traffic laws, specifically exceeding of passenger capacity.
The development comes barely a week after the officers also seized 80 other minibuses for flouting road traffic laws.
Regional traffic officer (RTO) Peter Mangoni said yesterday they embarked on the exercise following a public outcry on traffic police officers’ laxity to reinforce regulations.
He said the exercise, currently targeting Blantyre City, will continue as a way of ensuring that drivers obey road instructions.
The drivers of the impounded vehicles breached Section 83 of the Road Traffic Act which stipulates that no motor vehicle shall operate on a public road unless it has a valid road service permit.
Asked why they have decided to shift away from implementing the normal on-the-spot fines, Mangoni said: “The problem is that once we charge and fine them on the scene, they pay and proceed to purposely commit similar offences later.”
