admin
Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe records from 2006 to 2011 show that there has been an increase in road accidents.
The statistics are only based on what was reported, which gives us leeway to believe that there could be more road accidents as there could be some that go unreported. Since 2006 the road accident situation has been registered as follows:
Year Total Reported Total Killed Total Injured
2006 29 250 1 037 13 819
2007 21 092 1 127 10 378
2008 16 904 1 149 10 427
2009 20 553 1 576 12 354
2010 26 841 1 796 14 336
2011 33 955 1 992 16 944
This year alone has seen gruesome accidents take place. For instance in April we saw 21 people perish in a bus accident close to Ngundu, along the Masvingo- Beitbridge road.
According to UN reports, about two million road accidents take place annually and 70 percent of them are in developing countries.
Potholes could be exacerbating the accidents in Zimbabwe. Pothole patching has never been a long-term solution. The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) spokesperson, Mr Augustine Moyo said:
“The current state of our national road network is appalling …Some of our roads are more than 60 years old and loosely speaking they have ‘died’… Our roads need to be repaired but it’s very expensive for our economy to see roads fully repaired.
“It costs between US$500 000 to US$700 000 to redo just a kilometre of road. Zimbabwe has 88 000 kilometres road network and a lot of cash is needed to rehabilitate these roads.”
The hot issue, which seemingly has become a norm, and might be contributing immensely to the road carnage, is corruption.
Most people would agree with me that it is commonplace to see drivers giving bribes to traffic cops at road blocks.
Reports and instances of a driver bribing the police are seemingly getting rampant but most people forget that you cannot bribe death when your vehicle is un-roadworthy.
Individuals should not use bribes; neither should the police or VID accept bribes. Stiffer penalties should be inflicted on anyone found giving or receiving a bribe.
Besides, society has a role in fighting bribery, we just need to unite in the fight of bribery, report and simply abstain from bribing traffic officers.
As the Anti-corruption Commission of Zimbabwe says; the fight against corruption is everyone’s fight. You can make a difference. It has also prescribed four simple things applicable to any law abiding Zimbabwean:
l Refuse: Corruption is a cancer refuse to be a carrier. Stopping the rot starts with you by saying no.
l Resist: Do not turn a blind eye, do not walk by. Take an active stance against corruption. When good people do nothing evil wins.
l Reject: Throw corruption away. Do not allow it in our country
l Report: Report all corruption, bribery and abuse of power.
The issue of spot fines at road blocks should be made clear to the general populace. Are spot fines still legal or not?
The confusion that lingers on their status opens a door for corruption. If it is yes, let the proper instruments be made available to back that. People in general need to be educated especially on their rights on the roads.
In our country it’s more like a custom just to be shortchanged of our proper rights especially by police officers. Generally we are vulnerable and as a result could be intimidated by traffic cops because we are not on the clear of what is proper.
Unroadworthy vehicles are seen in broad daylight plying our roads. Reports of unlicensed driving go unabated.
Some of the causes of road accidents include drunken driving, overloading, speeding, fatigue and general human error. There are many contributing factors to increased road accidents and some could have been stopped if we took proper precautions.
Some of those accidents do not even need a scientist to diagnose their cause neither do they need prayer to curb them but just to follow prescribed road rules.
Death or an injury of a loved one in a road accident brings unplanned expenses. Just the loss of life is not a palatable experience.
A car has always been an envy of many people. In fact owning a car has not only been a necessity to answering to our transporting needs, but it also makes life very easy. When the same car becomes a doorway to death we fear it rather than love it. Let us fight road accidents to reduce those ghastly statistics of accidents, injury and death on our roads.
l Jonah Nyoni is a development journalist and motivational speaker. E-mail: [email protected]. www.jonahnyoni.blogspot.com. Tel: 0772 581 918
Online Reporter