Chronicle Editor
Fredrick Qaphelani Mabikwa
Dr David Foya, in his paper titled “Road Traffic Accidents, Causes, Trends and Preventive Measures”, published in the International Journal of Research and Innovation (Volume lll, 2019), examines the main factors that contribute to road traffic accidents (RTA).
His research reveals that RTA are mainly caused by human error (57%), followed by defective vehicles (25%), road defects (11%), weather conditions (2%) and other related causes (5%).
These statistics show that human error is the most significant cause of RTA, accounting for nearly 60% of accidents.
This means that on average, six (6) out of every ten (10) road accidents are caused by human error. This is a very high percentage for a single cause of accidents.
In my previous article, I shared my observations of a bad driving habit by some selfish drivers that I witnessed when I was driving into the Central Business District (CBD) from my home in Mahatshula. When we are entering the Bulawayo-Harare highway from Mahatshula, to turn right to proceed to the City Centre, vehicles queue to enter the highway and when the highway is busy the queue can be quite long. Some very selfish and unscrupulous drivers then overtake vehicles in the queue, driving on the right side of the road, facing oncoming traffic. I always watch with astonishment these unprincipled drivers who seem to think they are smarter than the drivers who are queuing.
I guess they think that those queuing are foolish and they, who are clever, can just overtake everyone and be in front and enter the highway. Sometimes, they get to the highway and the highway is busy and they stop, blocking traffic that wants to turn into Mahatshula from both sides of the highway and when this happens there is a traffic jam on the highway. Vehicles are stuck, those from Mahatshula cannot enter the highway and those on the highway cannot enter Mahatshula. All this confusion is caused by selfish drivers who only think of themselves.
Human error as a cause of accidents can be classified into two types. There are errors where drivers make genuine mistakes because they are human and there are errors where drivers do the wrong thing knowingly, fully aware that what they are doing is wrong and endangers other drivers and pedestrians, but they don’t care as long as they do what satisfies them as individuals. What selfishness of the highest order. Some of these selfish drivers that I am referring to in my Mahatshula case are parents on school runs.
I always wonder what lessons they are teaching their children when they drive on the wrong side of the road, endangering other motorists. What lessons are they teaching their young ones when they jump the queue of vehicles to be in front to enter the highway? Are the children saying our dad is macho? I will be honest, I have not seen a lady driver doing this selfish driving, and it is mostly the men.
We are lamenting as a nation about our children today who are delinquent, we are almost giving up on them, yet we are busy creating these delinquents. A child is learning every day from their father that good driving and respect for other motorists on the road is not important. A child is learning from their father that other drivers on the road don’t matter and the child is being given practical lessons of jumping queues. What kind of society are we creating for our children? What kind of citizens are we creating in our children?
Today, a local mental health hospital has over 200 teenagers who are undergoing drug abuse addiction rehabilitation and we are lamenting about our children, yet it’s us the fathers (and mothers) who are indirectly making these drug addicts. When a child has no respect for those around them, the family, the school, the church and the community at large, these problems start. You may not realise or appreciate the character you are creating in your child just from your selfish driving, but you will see the consequences soon enough.
We blame child delinquency on social media and other factors, yet we are busy jumping queues with our cars, cutting other drivers, shouting obscenities at other drivers, driving through red traffic lights, not giving way and not stopping at stop signs. How do we share the road with that kind of behaviour? How do we tame our roads as a nation with that kind of behaviour? When we tell our children tomorrow about the importance of education, discipline and the dangers of drugs and sex, will they listen to us when we are giving them practical lessons of bad driving every day during school runs? They won’t listen because we the parents are delinquent ourselves; we are the same as them, the only difference is that we are older delinquents and the teachers in chief of bad morals.
I have had the privilege of driving in two of our neighbouring countries, and the drivers there do not behave like us, they respect each other and they share the road. I watch in amazement selfish acts on the road. Someone parks in the middle of the road for any reason, even attending to their phone or chatting with a friend. Honestly, what selfishness is this? You stop to chat on the road, how do other drivers navigate? How would you feel if you found yourself locked up in a traffic jam because someone has parked in the middle of the road to chat with a friend?
The principle is simple, do not do to other drivers what you would not want them to do to you. The old adage says ” . . . do unto others as you would want them to do unto you”. You don’t care about the confusion and driving difficulty you are creating for other drivers as long as you have your way. In the streets of Bulawayo, kombis and mshikashika (pirate taxis) park anywhere and stop anywhere. You drive into an accident and it is a pirate taxi (Honda Fit mostly), it is the norm these days. Where has the respect for the other drivers gone? Where has the respect for traffic rules and regulations as enunciated in the Highway Code gone?
Vehicle defects were cited as the second major cause of accidents, accounting for 25% of the accidents, according to Dr David Foya’s research. As a driver, you are very much aware of the shortcomings of your vehicle. You know very well you have no indicators, no headlights, no wipers, no reflectors, no hand brake, your footbrake is faulty and you have no rear-view mirrors. You know all these things about your car but you proceed to enter the road. What selfishness is this?
The worst thing about your selfishness is that the innocent driver suffers as well in the event of an accident. Some of the defects I have listed are not expensive at all to get rid of but are very critical for the safety of drivers. A joke is told of a driver stopped by the police at a roadblock, driving a vehicle with all those defects I have listed. The police officers’ fines book has a few pages left and they realise writing a fine for each of those defects will finish their book and they agree to let the “poor” driver go. His vehicle has broken down and he asks the police officers for a push.
This is a practical joke because I have seen people going on the road with a vehicle that they know very well is not starting. They strategically park on slopes where they will glide the vehicle down to start, popularly known as churu start in Shona slang. The churu start endangers other drivers and pedestrians, as the vehicle has no control and can hit anything on its way. Some people also carry jumpers so that wherever they park they will ask the next driver for a jump start and during these jump starts other drivers are obstructed causing accidents.
I have seen some drivers hanging on the steering wheel of a car that is heavily smoking to the extent that it is impairing the vision of other drivers on the road. But the driver, like a spirit, drives the smoking vehicle oblivious of the dangers they are creating on the road. In most developed countries, even in one of our neighbouring countries, the police have traffic control helicopters that monitor the movement and flow of traffic especially in busy areas and smoking vehicles are ordered to stop immediately and are impounded and towed away. I wish we get there soon. Apart from endangering other drivers, your smoke is doing a lot of harm to the air we breathe. I am not a scientist but I have read how your smoke affects the climate, the ozone layer and all. I watch with shock people driving smoking vehicles. What is the cause of the smoke? It is lack of service of the vehicle and why lack of service? The answer is irresponsible conduct of the owner of the vehicle, the driver and this is the irresponsibility displayed in the driving as well.
In conclusion, let me say that the whole concept of safe driving is sharing the road and respecting the other driver. Good driving ensures your safety and the safety of the other road users. I encourage drivers to do the Defensive Drivers’ Course (DDC) with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe. I always renew mine the moment it expires. This is a very good course that teaches drivers how to drive to live. There are always new trends in driving and this is the course that opens the eye of every driver to drive to live for their safety and the safety of other road users including pedestrians.
Online Reporter