Wenslus Murape
Last month we highlighted that ever since the re-opening of Nemakonde Way to traffic, there has been a marked rise in road accidents.
This has been blamed on human error with public transport operators topping the list of recklessness.
But while the rate of accidents rose and largely involved motorists the risk is now bigger after the re-opening of schools.
A three kilometer stretch sandwiching Greencroft Shopping Centre has three day schools and have school children crossing five days a week.
The school kids are crossing Nemakonde Way during the morning rush hour and then varying times from midday depending on their classes. Nemakonde Way had been unavailable for virtually the entire second term and before its closure, there were only two lanes that school children had to negotiate.
Now the roads are much wider and the lanes are now five.
It is now very difficult to cross the road at once given the way cars will be speeding in both directions and having to stop in the middle of the road creates problems.
The widening of the road has created room for speeding, which has also made life difficult for traffic turning right. Previously one spot that had seen many accidents is the intersection of Nemakonde Way and West Road in Avondale West with police blaming the accidents on the spot to turning errors.
Now school children down the road have been added to the problem.
When residents petitioned authorities to install traffic lights at the intersection to reduce or eliminate accidents we argued it was not the best solution.
This is because behaviour of motorists on this particular road suggest traffic lights will not be effective.
Motorists are notorious for driving through traffic lights as there are no mechanisms, yet, to catch and punish offenders.
Traffic lights will not force errant drivers to reduce speed.
So, we reiterate the need for speed humps to be put on the Nemakonde Way, especially when approaching the busier intersections and school crossing points.
Speed humps seem the most effective way to calm the speeding traffic as they help control speeding traffic.
As an international standard, speed humps are often placed on sharp turns before crossings, entrances and exits, and other accident-prone areas.
And in this case, the intersection of Nemakonde Way and West Road.
Unlike traffic lights, speed humps force drivers to slow down whether they like it or not and in the process they reduce accidents, also helping pedestrians to cross the road safely.
Traffic along West Road is relatively less because motorists dislike the speed humps on the road.
That is how effective speed humps are and the very reason they should be installed near the intersection of Nemakonde Way and West Road.
Schools can also deploy their personnel with assistance from the Zimbabwe Republic Police to help the school kids cross the road.
Online Reporter