Abstract:
This study explores the effectiveness road safety operations and the reduction of drink
driving in Kigali city; it focuses on the effectiveness check points, patrol activities,
education and campaigns in the deterrence of drunk driving. On one hand, deterrence
theory led to the study of checkpoints and patrol activities and explored their effectiveness
to deter drink driving behavior in City of Kigali, while on the other hand social learning
theory helped to understand what makes people drink and drive despite the efforts invested by Police in the fight against this behavior. To achieve the objectives of this research,
qualitative approach was applied and used interview guide to gather information from key
informant among traffic police and Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) officers and used
focus groups interview to interact with different groups of drivers. A total of 32
participants were interviewed and shared their experience and expertise in regard with
drink driving issues in the City of Kigali. The results of data collected revealed that
checkpoints and Traffic police patrol activities are effective in reducing drink driving,
while found a need to tailor education and campaigns towards improvement of driver’s
knowledge of safe driving including drink driving issues.
Generally, the findings revealed that the increase the numbers of drink driving cases, lies
on the effectiveness of police detections and exposure of drivers to police. However, a big
number of drivers who participated in this study reported lack of understanding of the
alcohol content of drinks, the impact of different drinks and drinking patterns on Blood
alcohol Concentration (BAC), and basic information on managing alcohol consumption to
remain within the law.
The study also found a gap in the law punishing drink driving, which is a challenge to the
overall deterrence process.
Finally, some recommendations relevant to identified challenges research were proposed to the government of Rwanda, Rwanda National Police and the general public.
