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Story and pictures by Obey Sibanda
Every time you pass an oncoming car successfully you are cheating death and whenever you overtake another vehicle on our roads you are knocking on heaven’s door.
Lack of maintenance of roads has become an eyesore as Zimbabweans are routinely being put on risk every day.
The problem of bad and strip roads in the country has become an embarrassing stigma in many parts of the country. Normal interactions have been frustrated by the state of the roads.
When two cars on a strip road approach each other from opposite directions, each is expected to move away from the centre of the roads and use only one strip until the other car has passed.
Most of the roads are often narrow, poorly paved and dangerous. Pedestrians, stray animals and animal drawn carts are making safe driving almost impossible.
Major roads are so bad that vehicles invariably retire to a mechanic workshop at the end of every journey. Motorists are hurting that despite numerous toll gates dotted around the country, little is being done to repair the roads.
Potholes are evidenced everywhere and It is practically impossible to avoid all the potholes as quite often one preventive maneuver often leads the driver into yet other potholes.
Our roads has witnessed some poor-boy jobs done by jobless and school drop outs to make the roads at least passable by filling rubble into pot holes and expect payment from motorists. Their work does not seem to be a sustainable way of managing our roads.
There have been accidents and loss of lives; as a result our roads are littered with wreckage of overturned vehicles.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Jorum Gumbo said concerted efforts were needed to reduce road carnage. “As a nation, Zimbabwe is committed to the United Nations-declared decade of Action for road safety, which envisages on reduction in road traffic death by 50 percent by 2020 and it’s not in our interest for these tragedies to continue, so we must all unite and end accidents,” he said.
Road crushes are becoming a national health crisis and as such require comprehensive measures to prevent them including a better understanding of the social impacts of road related deaths and injuries.
It is however important to turn our eyes in the impact of road crushes at the house hold level. The impact of a family in losing a loved one is enormous, both in terms of emotional trauma and loss of income or caused disability.
A sudden, accidental, unexpected or traumatic death shatters the world as we know it. The sudden death leaves survivors feeling shaken, unsure and vulnerable. Death due to a disaster can raise a number of complex issues for the survivors. The grief process is often very different from an expected or anticipated death.
The impact of road crushes is less understood and lack of strong data or evidence on these is a challenge in the country.
It is also pertinent to know that while the human factor accounts for the majority of road crushes, accidents caused by poor road structure is equally important, because it has wider effects. It is therefore vital to address the state of road infrastructure.
Motorists implore the government to adopt a holistic approach that underscores the needs for a road system that guarantees safety, livability and a sense of community.
“Road traffic accidents are the leading violent causes of death therefore we lobby for the Government’s intervention. It’s now a culture that every journey must starts with a prayer and ends with a prayer due to road traffic accidents,” said Ngulube, a motorist.
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development has proposed deployment of Ambulances along the country’s major highways to ensure victims of accidents are taken to hospital on time.
Committee chairperson Dexter Nduna told our sister paper, Herald that the Ambulances could be stationed at tollgates.
“We are looking at establishing Accidents Victims Stabilization Centres at all tollgates. This is going to see Ambulances and doctors stationed there so that accidents will be attended to expeditiously.
“Road accident victims usually die in the first 30 minutes if they are not attended. We need to stabalise them within 30 minutes by establishing reaction units,” said Nduna.
Apart from poor road infrastructure, we have been losing precious lives due to the same reason, drinking and driving, negligence, fatigue, error of judgment and lapse of concentration. Failure to co-operate with other drivers and give each other way where road is bad can be fatal.
As a counter measure of reducing road accidents caused by stray animals, the government has launched the fencing of the “infamous” 162 kilometres between Bulawayo and Gweru.
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport Infrastructure and Development Mr Munesu Munodawafa said the motivation behind the project was to safe guard the unnecessary loss of lives in the major highways which has risen due to stray animals.
“A fence used to be there but it was vandalized and as the Government we are redoubling our efforts to save the loss of lives,” he said.
Police have revealed that 112 people died in road accidents country wide in November alone. Nearly 700 people were also injured in the 99 road accidents.
130 people perished in road accidents in December 15, 2015 and January 2, 2016 festive season. There was a significant rise in fatalities compared to the same period December 15, 2014 to January 2, 2015.
During the Christmas period 267 accidents were recorded between December 24 and 26, 2015 while 27 people died and a further 168 others were injured. Human error alone contributed 93.4 percent to road accidents during the 2015 festive season.
Senior assistant commissioner Charity Charamba said it was important for motorists to plan their journeys and avoid travelling at night.
“We entreat public service operators to desist from over burdening drivers by carrying out incentivized extra trips as fatigue will catch up with them leading to accidents,” she said.
Many accidents can be prevented and in those that are not preventable, the damage could be lessened by taking preventable steps. According to traffic expects here are some tips to help prevent traffic accidents.
Drive according to road conditions. Drive slower when the weather is bad. Road surfaces deteriorate in rain. The ability to stop quickly greatly reduces when the roads are wet.
Keep your vehicle in good mechanical order. Replace worn tires and brakes as needed. Keep windshield washer fluid full and change out windshield wipers on a regular basis
Watch out at intersections as many accidents happen here. Always slow down and look both ways at intersections. Do not assume the other vehicles will stop just because the light is red. There is always someone trying to get through the intersection during a yellow light.
Online Reporter