My wife was involved in a minor accident with a matatu in the Nairobi CBD last night on her way home from college. She was accompanied by my daughter and a friend and thankfully no one was injured.
It was one of those big matatu buses - a ‘Star Bus’ - that go around menacing the rest of us with their loud and uncouth driving habits. I believe that Star Bus is a cooperative or a franchise model business that manages public service vehicles on behalf of individuals like you and me and who seem to pride themselves on their efficiency and cleanliness of their buses. Their crew however was another thing!
Since the vehicles were smack bang in the middle of ever busy Moi Avenue and impeding the flow of traffic, my wife after assessing the damage and seeing that it was minor prudently decided to move her car to the side of the road while the bus defiantly remained on the road oblivious to the inconvenience to other road users. Despite clearly being in the wrong the crew came out as being belligerent and uncouth, intimidating and harassing my wife and telling her that she had to pay them Kshs. 5,000.00 for the repairs to their bus which had a broken side light while her car had a dented rear door and with the paint scraped off. When she objected and told them that they were in the wrong they started telling her that her car was not even an expensive car and they did not see the reason that she should be making such a big fuss about it!! Mistake No. 1.
Those who know my wife will agree that she projects herself very well, is not loud or intimidating, will not throw her weight around and does not show her anger. But when push comes to shove she will not be intimidated. The harassment, bullying and abusive nature of the bus crew pushed her to her limit and she told them that she was not going to pay and that they should wait for the traffic police officers to show up and sort out the mess.
In the middle of talking with the bus crew she had received a call from her mother and they had conversed briefly in her mother tongue Kikamba. The crew then began commenting among themselves in their own mother tongue Kikuyu to the effect that they would wait all night if they had to and that they would tire her out and that “this kamama” would eventually have to pay them the Kshs. 5,000.00 that they was demanding. Mistake No. 2!
My wife happens to be fluent in Kikuyu in addition to Kikamba and this blatant show of disrespect to her increased and steeled her resolve to wait until the cops showed up, which they eventually did almost 45 minutes after the accident. In the intervening period, she had approached the bus crew so that they could proceed to Central Police station less than a kilometer away to make a report and they had refused - 'sitoki na sitoki' - unless she paid them the amount they were demanding or the police showed up.
The cops after assessing the situation and deciding that the matatu was in the wrong jumped into the Star Bus and asked my wife to follow them to the police station where the respective parties made their statements, with a now suitably mortified bus crew trying their best to distance themselves from their earlier statements which she had clearly heard them make in Kikuyu in addition to their extortionate demands for money from her.
The bus crew was then told to call their Manager to explain what had happened and to get the company to agree to repair her vehicle and she took down the number with the police officer telling her that if she encountered any problems to report to them since the incident had been recorded in the Occurrence Book. She was then released to go home while the bus was impounded by the police officers to enable them complete their investigations and hopefully prosecute the hapless bus driver who by now was in a state of shock the tables having been effectively turned on him!
There are several lessons to be learnt from this incident mainly to bus and matatu crews.
No 1. – When in the wrong, belligerence and intimidating behavior will not help you at all. Acceptance and a simple apology may go a long way in eliciting some sympathy from someone you have clearly wronged and help resolve a situation without reverting to the authorities.
No 2. – Common road courtesy is expected of you so that you do not impede the smooth flow of traffic or cause unnecessary and expensive time consuming mistakes. In this instance, the bus lost the additional three hours of income it would have earned, it cost the driver an alomost guaranteed deduction of his wages to repair my wife’s car, a possible loss of income to the owners of the bus if it continues being detained, possible prosecution of the bus driver and a loss of reputation to Star Bus as a deliverer of efficient public transport service.
No 3. – Customer service training for the staff and crew of all reputable public service vehicle companies is necessary and long overdue.
No 4. – Don’t say things in the heat of the moment assuming that the other party does not understand what you are saying lest you are forced to eat the words later and come across as a groveling fool.
To the rest of the world,
No 5. – When involved in a minor accident in a well-lit and safe area stand your ground if you know you are in the right and don’t accept to be bullied and intimidated by those that may have caused the accident.
No 6. – If you are involved in a minor accident move the vehicles to the side of the road to improve traffic flow and wait for the police if you must. Since most people have mobile phones with cameras nowadays, there is nothing wrong with taking photos of the accident scene before moving your vehicles but for heaven’s sake stop blocking the flow of traffic because of a minor accident.
Hopefully with the new Traffic Act that has harsh penalties for errant drivers some semblance of discipline will reign on our roads in due course more so with the PSV operators who are always in a rush looking for the next shilling.
NB - Her vehicle was repaired the next day at no cost to her save for the whole day that she spent getting the car fixed and reprayed
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