{"id":118070,"date":"2025-12-25T12:40:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T12:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season"},"modified":"2025-12-25T12:57:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T12:57:42","slug":"police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season","title":{"rendered":"Police Enhances Road Safety Measures for Festive Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Rwanda National Police has increased the number of officers deployed on roads during the festive season to curb drunk driving and other risky behaviour, particularly in Kigali and on major highways linking the capital to the provinces.<\/p>\n<p>During an interview with The New Times, Police spokesperson in the City of Kigali CIP Wellars Gahonzire warned that the festive period often comes with a rise in excessive alcohol consumption, which in turn increases the risk of road accidents, but warned that the preventative measures are in place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe festive season is not a time to overdrink,\u201d Gahonzire said, noting that police frequently observe people drinking excessively, including on the roadside and even inside vehicles. He cautioned that alcohol consumption by passengers can distract or lure drivers into drinking, exposing everyone to risks.<\/p>\n<p>He also urged bar operators to stop serving alcohol to visibly drunk customers, citing a recent case where a person reportedly collapsed and died after being served more drinks while already intoxicated.<\/p>\n<p>According to Gahonzire, police patrols have been reinforced on Kigali\u2019s main roads as well as highways connecting the city to other parts of the country, while additional officers have also been deployed in secondary cities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a belief that because there are many officers in Kigali, people can escape enforcement elsewhere. That is not true. You will be caught wherever you are,\u201d he said calling for individual responsibility by everyone.<\/p>\n<p>He warned that traffic offences during the festive season could lead to serious consequences, including imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be unfortunate to end up spending your festive season in prison instead of celebrating with your family and friends,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Gahonzire also cautioned motorcycle taxi users against carrying bulky goods while shopping for the holidays, saying motorcycles are meant to transport people, not large cargo that could endanger lives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSmall items can be carried in a small bag, but loading large packages on a motorcycle is dangerous,\u201d he said, adding that carrying a child as a second passenger is equally risky since the third person is not insured.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond road safety, police also called for respect for public order, particularly regarding noise pollution. Gahonzire urged churches, bars and people hosting home parties to respect their neighbours, even during extended operating hours.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany home parties start peacefully but later turn noisy. That should be avoided. If not, those responsible will be dealt with,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<p>He further cautioned that anyone who resists or attacks security personnel during inspections will face tougher penalties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have seen cases where, during inspections, premises close the main entrance while people slip out through other exits,\u201d he said, stressing that such behaviour will not be tolerated.<\/p>\n<p>Bars should only admit the number of customers they are authorised to accommodate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf your capacity is 100 people, you should not receive 300 simply because numbers have increased,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<p>Even though the festive season may present risks, preventive measures help to contain them and prevent any increase, Gahonzire noted.<\/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. Rwanda National Police has increased the number of officers deployed on roads during the festive season to curb drunk driving and other risky behaviour, particularly in Kigali and on major highways linking the capital to the provinces. During an interview with The New Times, Police spokesperson in the City of Kigali CIP [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":118069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,14],"tags":[4596,777,165,758],"class_list":["post-118070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-festive-season","tag-kigali","tag-police","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>Police Enhances Road Safety Measures for Festive Season - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rwanda National Police has increased the number of officers deployed on roads during the festive season to curb drunk dr ...\" \/>\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\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Police Enhances Road Safety Measures for Festive Season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rwanda National Police has increased the number of officers deployed on roads during the festive season to curb drunk dr ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-25T12:40:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-25T12:57:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/12\/sm_1766654690.604756.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\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\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Police Enhances Road Safety Measures for Festive Season\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-25T12:40:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-25T12:57:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season\"},\"wordCount\":513,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/12\/sm_1766654690.604756.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Festive season\",\"Kigali\",\"Police\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/police-enhances-road-safety-measures-for-festive-season\",\"name\":\"Police Enhances Road Safety Measures for Festive Season - 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