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Demmelle Asmamaw was going through his personal
belongings on Thursday, looking for something in
particular that he might use to get himself out of
the dilemma he faced. After a 'to make' or 'to buy'
analysis on his part, he figured there was no point
in spending money on something as simple but
apparently not as serious as finding material that
could pass for a safety belt for his Peugeot taxi
cab.
He finally came across a duffel-bag shoulder strap
that fulfilled, according to his engineering
judgment, the requirements of this key safety
device.
"I have never been in an accident," he said fixing
the hook for the shoulder strap to the interior door
frame of his cab. "And even if I wear a belt, it
sure [as heck] would not protect me from anything."
His cab is a sample of the great many vehicles in
Addis Abeba that were either too old to still have
their seatbelts intact, or had the belts removed for
some reason or another and owners never bothered to
replace them.
It was the new wave of traffic regulations that have
befallen the city of Addis Abeba sending drivers in
the city into a frenzy over the past two weeks. The
regulation bans the use of cell phones, while
driving including using any kind of accessories;
such as wireless Bluetooth devices and headsets. It
also stresses mandatory seatbelt fastening while
driving. These mandates are effective as of
tomorrow, December 21, 2009.
This set Demmelle and many others to thinking.
"I have no intention of taking my meagre earnings
and spending a fortune on belts. I can manage with
what I can find locally," he professes. He was
clearly bent on creating the illusion of appearing
to wear a seatbelt in the eyes of the law rather
than the safety it could provide him.
Gedion Bisset also makes his living as a driver. He
focuses mainly on fruit and vegetable deliveries
from Atkilt Terra (the open market serving as a
fruit and vegetable distribution hub for the city)
to various restaurants and vendors around town.
He drives a 1973 Toyota Stout pickup truck, that
blends into the surroundings of the vegetable market
comfortably. Its rugged metallic bulk rests on
tarmac covered with rotting vegetables, as the
putrid air of the neighbourhood seeps into its
manifolds.
Although the model of the truck originally had
seatbelts installed, Gedion says it had none when he
was hired to do the delivery rounds some five months
ago. He, however, is not one of those overly
cautious individuals racing against time to acquire
seatbelts.
"I purchased only the belt a while back, and it cost
200 Br," he said. "The socket, I still have to buy,
but the price is a bit steeper now."
It was not the main-stream automobile spare part
suppliers that came to Gedion's rescue, though.
Business is up again in Somali Terra in recent
weeks. Somali Terra - the spot in town, infamous for
its chop-shop garages not to mention the sale of
second hand, mostly stolen spare parts -was the
market that relieved Gedion's needs.
The Gobena Aba'Tigu Street (from Teklehaimanot to
Cathedral School) that is enclosed by what used to
be Somali Terra is alive with the bustle of seatbelt
shoppers. Mechanic, and as of late, a full time
seatbelt vendor, Sani Awel reminisces about his
garage edifice days when the belts were pulled out
and thrown out of cars "just because they were
inconveniences. People say [the belts] get in their
way."
He now sells the belts with locking and retracting
mechanisms for 400 Br. It used to cost around 25 Br
whenever the occasional buyer came, he recalls. He
claims to have had amassed a stockpile of nearly 60
belt pieces, which he now sells at prices he himself
gets to set.
"I even do the installations," said Daniel, Sani's
partner, "for 25 Br a job. I pay 10 Br for drilling
and welding the joints in place, and the rest is my
labour fee."
Sani not just retails these belts, but maintains old
and faulty retractors and locking mechanisms as
well. Not many people are aware of the possibility
of having their belts repaired, but never cared to
bother themselves with one useless part that failed
on their cars, he says.
“Well it is not so useless these days now, is it?”
he exclaimed.
The real busy section of town with seatbelt
transactions was the Abinet area. Recently referred
to as Addisu Somali Terra (the new second
hand spare parts market), the street is alive with
mechanics and spare parts store keepers that have
flocked from their workshops and stores to line
Dej'azmach Bekele Woya Street (from Abinet to Lideta,
past Jos Hansen Building) in an attempt to lure
potential customers that are unusually abundant. The
item of the day, safety belts, of course.
Mulugeta Hailemariam, a used spare parts retailer in
the area, displays his used seatbelts in front of
his workshop. He sells the locking-and-retracting
mechanism type for up to 700 Br, while only the belt
costs 350 Br. He believes the higher prices resulted
from the demand the area was attracting owing to its
newfound reputation as the used spare parts centre
of town.
Although the orientation on the new regulations was
all over the airwaves - radio, TV and even on the
streets through traffic police using megaphones - it
did not deter cell phone users from shopping for
mobile phone accessories that are explicitly
forbidden while driving.
"There was a great increase in the demand for
wireless, Bluetooth devices and headsets," says
Demelash Girma, who co-owns and manages a mobile and
accessories store on Africa Avenue (Bole Road),
M-mobile Center. "There was no increase in prices,
however, as we were working with what we had in
stock."
The accessory-rush continued unabated until the
later part of mid December despite announcements on
the total ban on use of cell phones, Demelash
disclosed. He seemed content with having capitalised
on the apparent communication break-down between the
public and the media.
At the end of the day, the effectiveness of the
regulations falls at the whim of drivers themselves.
At least Sisay Gizaw, a cabbie working the Gabon
Street (Olympia to Gotera Road) route thinks so. He
feels strongly about the cell phone ban while
driving.
"The muddle of traffic that surrounds a driver
engaged in conversation over the phone and the
possibility of losing concentration that could lead
to stepping on gas all the while intending to
brake," he explained while driving, "are just some
of the few things that can be avoided." Not having
fastened the seatbelt that hangs on his left
shoulder, he insists that remembering to fasten
seatbelts is a matter of habit.
"The orientation period was not adequate for this to
happen, so I guess I will have to learn as I go,
starting now," he said, buckling up. |
