INDISCIPLINE ON OUR STREETS

Have you ever thought how difficult it has been recently differentiating a taxi from a commercial vehicle in the Ho municipality? What of its associated embarrassing moments when you stop a private car instead of a taxi especially in the night?

Well you are not in this frustration alone. We have embarked our journey on the streets of Ho to unveil the mysteries on our roads. 

Our first encounter was with a driver who has no taxi indicator light on top of his vehicle. When asked why he failed to fix this light on top of the vehicle, he answered rudely there was no need for it.

Anytime money is used in the exchanged of something or service, one can talk of a business transaction and for that matter all the ethics that goes with it such as good customer relation must be in place.

Most commercial drivers fail to see passengers as their customers thus, treat them right according to business ethics .To them the passenger is the one in need and so must kowtow to anything they put across.

For these reason commercial drivers precisely taxi drivers go about their business with no or little sign of identification, moreover the only thing that separates a private car from a commercial one is the number plate, indicator light and in some cases colour. However at night it is difficult for a passenger to tell if the approaching vehicle is a private one or a commercial one without an indicator light. Meanwhile In the case that a driver notices the passenger, he starts to signal by blowing horn; an act which is not just distasteful but also destructing.

In another case, instead of communicating, drivers end up making noise .In an interview with some drivers as well as their station officers at the Volta regional capital Ho, drivers revealed that the drivers are in the known about the complaints of passengers and yet have refused to make amends due to reasons best known to them.

Some of this reasons they gave was increment in prices making the light expensive, besides they drive from “scale to scale” without picking any passenger on the road and so doesn’t  see a need for an indicator light. As to whether the police checks these things at the check point, they answered yes, and whether or not they are punished, they claim the police understands when they explain so they go unpunished.

Drivers are not only disregarding and breaching the laws of good customer relationships but are also being indiscipline. The earlier drivers are made to realize their actions and take responsibility, the better.