Online Reporter
ROAD traffic accidents on our highways continue to claim lives and there is therefore an urgent need to tame the traffic jungle. On Tuesday, 12 people died on the spot when a fuel tanker collided with two other vehicles on the Harare-Bulawayo Highway near Sebakwe River in Kwekwe.
The people who died were all in the AD van which was operating as a pirate taxi between Kwekwe and Ndarama mine. The fuel tanker which was coming from Harare, first sideswiped with a two-tonne truck before colliding head-on with the AD van.
The AD van went under the fuel tanker and all its 12 occupants were trapped underneath.
In February this year 25 people were killed when a bus and a haulage truck collided near Luthumba Tollgate, 25km from Beitbridge Town. Seventeen people died on the spot while eight others died on admission to Beitbridge District Hospital.
A total of 4 069 people were killed in road traffic accidents last year alone which was a 93 percent increase from the 2 104 killed in 2023. These are very frightening figures and something should be done urgently to reduce the carnage on our roads.
President Mnangagwa has said there is an urgent need for the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to implement the Electronic Management System to curb the road carnage which has been on the increase over the years.
“The high rate of indiscipline on our roads, which has resulted in the loss of countless lives due to road carnage, is disturbing. I call upon all Zimbabwean citizens to respect the country’s traffic laws and co-operate with the law enforcement agencies,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said most urban roads have seen heavy presence of pirate vehicles, commonly known as mushikashika and have been a menace for their notoriety in flouting traffic laws thereby contributing to the increased road accidents.
According to statistics, 80 percent of road traffic accidents in Zimbabwe are as a result of human error which means they can be avoided.
In a bid to tame the traffic jungle, Government at one time suspended the operators’ licences for two bus companies after their bus drivers who were racing and blocking each other caused an accident.
Government has repeatedly warned public transport operators violating traffic rules and regulations that they risk having their licences withdrawn. We want at this juncture to appeal to motorists to exercise extreme caution to avoid accidents which continue to claim lives. Speeding and unsafe overtaking are major contributors to road accidents hence the appeal to motorists to drive at safe speed and only overtake when it is safe to do so.
