Safety of passengers travelling by long-distance buses in Tanzania: a critical analysis of the law and practice.

The sector of public transportation of passengers in Tanzania is dominated by long-distance buses, which are estimated to account for more than 80 per cent of public passenger transport. However the sector is plagued by road accidents which have continued to claim lives of many passengers while leaving many others with permanent disabilities. This research aims at finding out why there are still so many road accidents in spite of the various laws passed with the aim of controlling road accidents and enhancing the safety of passengers. The researcher used library research as well as field research. Library research was used to find out what has been written so far on the subject while field research was used to find out the situation on the ground and to collect views of stakeholders on the subject of the research. Findings indicate that the laws enacted to regulate the transportation sector are not very well articulated to control and reduce road accidents. Moreover they are not strictly enforced and adhered to. The conclusion of the researcher therefore is that the safety of passengers travelling by long distance buses in Tanzania is not very well guaranteed. This is because of the weaknesses in the law enacted to regulate the sector of passenger transportation by long-distance buses. Enforcement of the laws is also not very strict. This is why accidents have continued to occur, a situation which threatens the safety of passengers. It is recommended to amend the existing law with a view of strengthening it to make it more cognitive of the real situation of road accidents and safety of passengers and address the problem more elaborately.