By: Yusuf M Hasan
HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – All drivers in the country have to conform to proper traffic rules in lieu of prosecution.
This warning was issued by the police commissioner Brigadier Abdilahi Fadal Iman during a press briefing in Hargeisa where he revealed that the country recorded 257 road accidents in the month of June alone.
As a result of unruly driving we lost 20 innocent lives in the past month alone not to mention injuries” said Brig Fadal while revealing new traffic rules that obligate drivers to maintain standardized driving speeds.
“Accordingly it is now a must for motorists within city and town limits to maintain driving speeds of 30Kms per Hour- Kph” stated the police commissioner while informing that drivers will have to conform to the A,B, C standards of licensing.
Upon exiting city limits lorry drivers are obligated to maintain speeds of 60KPH while others shall drive at 80KPH and not above since traffic police equipped with speed checking gadgets have been stationed in all major roads and more so the accident notorious Berbera Hargeisa Highway.
The new rules set to check on the increasing number of fatal accidents in the country follow in the heels of recent one by interior minister banning trucks with bumpers from plying the Hargeisa Berbera Highway.
Meanwhile three members of a family lost their lives following a tragic road accident at Galoolay village situated between Sheikh and Burao towns.
Another relative sustained serious injury after the 4X4 vehicle the family was driving on the fateful journey from Hargeisa to Burao overturned outside Galoolay village.
The Sheikh district police commander Major Amin Muhumed Abdi who was led rescue and salvage operations at the scene of accident identified the deceased as the proprietor of salaam travel agency late Suleiman Omar Qalib, his mother Late Fatuma Warsame and sister later Hamda Omar Qalib.
Though all deaths are painful that of late Mama Fatuma and her daughter Hamda is tragic for the two died a few kilometres from family members they had not seen in years having just arrived in the country from a lengthily stay in Malaysia in the morning of the fateful accident.
With over 250 road accidents recorded in a single month what the police commissioner and his boss at the interior ministry need to do on top of their many new rules is to visit the department responsible for issuing driving licenses for that is where the root cause is and shall remain unless something is done and done fast.
Watch the Brigadier Fadal press briefing
