{"id":112786,"date":"2025-10-11T14:13:52","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T14:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour"},"modified":"2025-10-11T14:25:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T14:25:04","slug":"how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour","title":{"rendered":"How new road traffic bill may change driver behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>A new road traffic bill under consideration by Parliament could improve driver behaviour and road safety across the country, ACP Steven Rukumba, Commissioner for Testing and Licensing at the Rwanda National Police, has said.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on October 10 during a session with the Senate\u2019s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security, Rukumba said that the bill aims to address existing gaps in driver training and behavioural change.<\/p>\n<p>Better training for new drivers<\/p>\n<p>Rukumba criticised the current system where some learner drivers only train for an unregulated period, say a week, before sitting for their driving test, arguing that this does not provide adequate time to understand traffic rules or responsible behaviour behind the wheel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA person goes and spends one week, then sits for the exam. What it means is that they haven&#8217;t had enough time to learn traffic rules,\u201d he said. \u201cDriving is not just about knowing how to handle the steering wheel. There is also a behavioural aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the proposed bill, new drivers would be required to undergo at least 90 days of instruction before being allowed to take the driving test. This period, Rukumba explained, would allow for comprehensive education not only on traffic laws but also on responsible behaviour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is where we begin shaping a driver\u2019s behaviour. It&#8217;s also about understanding the human factor,\u201d he added, pointing to incidents involving drivers using mobile phones or even watching YouTube videos while driving.<\/p>\n<p>Merit and demerit system<\/p>\n<p>One of the most significant provisions of the draft law is the introduction of a merit and demerit point system aimed at regulating driver behaviour through a combination of rewards and penalties for drivers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis system is expected to help shape human behaviour,\u201d Rukumba said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The first phase [in road traffic rule compliance] is education and awareness, but the second phase is about applying penalties when someone repeatedly violates the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the system, all drivers would start each year with 15 points on their licence. Points are deducted based on the severity of traffic violations, and when all points are exhausted, a driver&#8217;s licence is suspended.<\/p>\n<p>The consequences, Rukumba said, are both psychological and financial.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a professional driver, losing points and eventually their licence means losing their source of income. For others, it means having to hire a driver, which is an additional financial burden. These impacts are expected to influence behaviour positively,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>Examples of penalties<\/p>\n<p>While addressing parliamentarians on September 30, the Minister of Infrastructure, Jimmy Gasore, said that penalty points \u2013 for set infractions \u2013 will range from two to six, depending on the offence:<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7 6 points: fleeing the scene after causing an accident<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7 5 points: driving with a disconnected (tampered) speed governor<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7 4 points: driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7 3 points: driving while disqualified, overspeeding, running a red light<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7 2 points: driving without insurance, or using a mobile phone while driving<\/p>\n<p>Once all points are lost, the driver in question will be banned from driving until the suspension period ends.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing legislative gaps<\/p>\n<p>The draft law also aims to close gaps in the current legal framework, including a lack of clear regulations on the organisation and functioning of driving schools, the absence of standards for conducting driving tests, and limited oversight mechanisms for driving schools and training programmes.<\/p>\n<p>Regulation of driving schools<\/p>\n<p>The new bill includes guidelines for the operation and oversight of driving schools.<\/p>\n<p>Article 34 of the bill proposes that a driving school must be operated by a person authorised under relevant laws, and the national road safety agency will monitor and oversee driving schools.<\/p>\n<p>It provides that the minister in charge of transport will issue an order detailing the organisation and functioning of these schools.<\/p>\n<p>Suspension and revocation of driving licences<\/p>\n<p>Article 38 (proposed) states that a driver whose licence is suspended or revoked cannot legally drive in Rwanda, even if they hold a foreign licence.<\/p>\n<p>Once the suspension period ends, the licence may be reactivated.<\/p>\n<p>Data from Rwanda National Police shows that in 2024-2025, more than 409,000 drivers were fined for speed limit violations, 94,843 for distracted driving (such as through using a mobile phone), while 9,169 were arrested for driving under influence (of alcohol).<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. A new road traffic bill under consideration by Parliament could improve driver behaviour and road safety across the country, ACP Steven Rukumba, Commissioner for Testing and Licensing at the Rwanda National Police, has said. Speaking on October 10 during a session with the Senate\u2019s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security, Rukumba [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":112784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[8006,8353,8355,8354,8352,3749,8356,758],"class_list":["post-112786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-drivers-licence","tag-driving-school","tag-driving-under-influence","tag-merit-and-demerit-system","tag-overspeeding","tag-road-safety","tag-road-traffic-bill","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How new road traffic bill may change driver behaviour - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new road traffic bill under consideration by Parliament could improve driver behaviour and road safety across the coun ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How new road traffic bill may change driver behaviour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new road traffic bill under consideration by Parliament could improve driver behaviour and road safety across the coun ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-11T14:13:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-11T14:25:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/10\/sm_1760180048.325855.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"How new road traffic bill may change driver behaviour\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-11T14:13:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-11T14:25:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour\"},\"wordCount\":710,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/10\/sm_1760180048.325855.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Drivers licence\",\"Driving school\",\"Driving under influence\",\"Merit and demerit system\",\"Overspeeding\",\"Road safety\",\"Road traffic bill\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/how-new-road-traffic-bill-may-change-driver-behaviour\",\"name\":\"How new road traffic bill may change driver behaviour - 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