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Freeman Razemba in Mutare
The Government, through the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), over the weekend launched the Driver of the Year competition which targets bus, haulage trucks, and kombi drivers.
The competition is aimed at enhancing and improving drivers’ skills to curb road carnage countrywide, in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
The idea behind the awards stems from the background that most kombi, bus, and haulage truck drivers have been showing signs of negligence and reckless driving on the roads resulting in unnecessary deaths.
TSCZ managing director Mr Munesu Munodawafa said the Driver of the Year (DOTY) competitions have a long history across the globe since the 1960s when awards were presented to drivers competing in motorsport.
“The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) has previously held DOTY competitions as a means for standardising and improving driving. However, DOTY competitions also serve as a yardstick for us to check whether drivers know the basic driving rules and how to apply them,” he said.
Mr Munodawafa said circumstances that occur on the roads had led them to come up with the awards to curb accidents.
“The Driver of the Year competition aims to reduce the number of road fatalities and injuries involving trucks, kombis, and buses, through stimulating education amongst our public and heavy motor vehicle drivers and consequently improve the standard of public and heavy motor vehicle driving in our country.
“The competition serves as an incentive for the business sector to invest in advanced driver training for the drivers of heavy-duty vehicles. Further to that, skilled drivers contribute to saving human lives and reducing vehicle maintenance costs, including fleet management. Today we pay tribute to our drivers because their work is no bed of roses. Truck and public vehicle drivers sacrifice an enormous amount of their time, and their hours of operation are taxing, but they still manage to keep the wheels of our growing economy turning,” he said.
Mr Munodawafa said this year’s competition involves rigid lorries, articulated trucks, and bus drivers.
“In our quest to attend to the current reality of our roads this year, we added another category to the competition which is the kombi category. This has been long overdue as we have seen the number of kombis that have been involved in road crashes over the past years.
“The idea behind adding this category to the competition has been necessitated by the fact that most kombi drivers have been showing signs of negligence and recklessness on the road which has more often than not caused fatal road crashes resulting in a lot of people losing their lives. As the institution responsible for promoting road safety, we have taken it to mean that there is a need to encourage good driving habits therefore restoring normalcy in that area.
“It is from this background that I urge all kombi drivers to participate in this competition and I urge kombi owners and operators to allow their drivers to participate in this competition,” Mr Munodawafa said.
He said road crashes are a major public health and safety concern in Zimbabwe, and the DOTY competitions are an opportunity to educate the public about the importance of safe driving and the need to follow traffic rules and regulations.
Secretary for State and Devolution for Manicaland Province Mr Abiot Maronge applauded TSCZ for launching the competitions in the province.
“Thank you Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe for bringing the launch of this competition to Manicaland Province, indeed we don’t take your presence for granted.
“Manicaland, like any other province, is also facing traffic safety challenges,” said Mr Maronge. He said the solution lies with all stakeholders to play their part to curb such challenges.
“These players include the Traffic Safety Council, the ZRP, and road authorities. I, therefore, want to thank the Traffic Safety Council for organising this competition that seeks to promote better performance of our drivers on the roads,” he said.
Online Reporter