Abstract:
The study focused on assessing the capability of traffic police department in reducing road
accidents in Ilala District in Dar es Salaam Region in Tanzania. Specifically the study focused
on determine the technical capabilities of traffic police department in reducing road accidents in
the study area, To examine the resource capabilities of traffic police department in reducing
road accidents in the study area and to determine regulatory capabilities of traffic police
department in reducing road accidents in the study area, sample size of 202 used in the study
out of which 143 respondents participated towards the accumulation of data, qualitative and
quantitative techniques were used to interpret data in the study and data were analysed by using
SPSS model. A study showed that road accidents are influenced by both human and technical
factors and it showed that traffic police departments often use techniques such as fine, verbal
warning, vehicle inspections, and monitoring of speed limits to reduce accidents despite of the
effort done by the police department the study showed that Ilala traffic police department lacks
capability in human and financial resources, in conducting effective vehicle inspections, proper
vehicle monitoring and records keeping. It recommended that, the Ilala traffic police department
should collaborate with relevant authorities such as Prevention and Combating Corruption
Bureau (PCCB). This can enable proper investigation of corruption practices and take proper
actions and TANROADS should ensure regular and proper maintenance of road infrastructure
and road furniture. Broken traffic lights should be replaced, bumps and holes in roads should
be fixed as well as the National Audit Office should continue conducting annual independent
auditing of road accidents and regulatory authorities responsible for road safety. The audit
reports should be used to take measures to reduce road accidents
