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As we report elsewhere in today’s paper, this year’s festive season has started on a bloody note with 12 people having died in road accidents in three days.These are recorded accidents so there could be others, possibly fatal, that have happened elsewhere as the country moves towards Christmas but have not been reported.
It is regrettable that festive periods in Zimbabwe – Easter, Heroes holidays and Christmas – see an increase in road accidents that kill hundreds every year. It is a horrific tradition we have come to expect, for lack of a better word, every year.
Early morning Friday, three people, believed to be Malawians, died when a Toyota Quantum they were travelling in veered off the road and overturned. Some hours later, a Pathfinder luxury coach allegedly hit a stray cow and skidded into the path of an oncoming haulage truck. Six people were dead at the last count. Yesterday, two people died when their vehicle crashed into a kombi.
The three accidents happened in Matabeleland South. They came about 45 days after 22 people, all of them relatives, were burnt beyond recognition following a road accident involving a lorry carrying mourners and a haulage truck transporting highly flammable ethanol in Chipinge. The corpse that was being transported for burial was also burnt.
This is not a good beginning to what must be a celebratory period. That two of the three accidents that have been recorded since Friday occurred at night, highlights the inherent hazards of night driving. This is an area that has always challenged road users and authorities. Of the two, one involved a cow straying on the road, yet another point of concern.
Driving at night is comparatively more dangerous than driving during the day as visibility is generally poor. You lose a lot of advantages by driving at night.
For this reason, authorities always discourage motorists from driving at night so as to minimise the possibility of accidents. When one chooses to take the risk, they must ensure that their vehicles have working lights, drive at reasonable speeds and that they are not sleepy or drunk.
The accident that killed the Malawians could have been caused by fatigue as it occurred at around 2am, a time when people are ordinarily expected to be asleep. It is most probable that the driver slept on the wheel resulting in the crash as police have not reported another road user or animal as having been involved.
The cow reported to have precipitated the Pathfinder-haulage truck collision emphasises the need for livestock owners to mind their animals all the time. It is regrettable that two of the accidents happened on a road that is being rehabilitated. The road is being widened, potholes filled and clearly marked.
In the past, all our major roads were fenced off, which helped prevent animals straying onto them. We must not forget, however, that the fences that ran on the sides of our roads did not collapse on their own. Some among us vandalised them and used them for other purposes.
Therefore, apart from it being a responsibility of motorists and road authorities, ordinary people must be encouraged to understand that public infrastructure should be protected for the public good.
We have pointed this out before and reiterate it today that a number of accidents are caused by the disproportionate narrowness of our roads seen against rising traffic. Work to address this is happening on the Infralink project – the Plumtre-Bulawayo-Harare-Mutare road – but they are only adding a few centimetres of width.
If our busier roads such as the one from Bulawayo to Harare and the one from Bulawayo to Beitbridge where the three crashes occurred were dual carriageways for example, we would know that head-on collisions would be greatly minimised.
Poor condition of vehicles has been blamed for road accidents as well with people-carriers such as Toyota Ipsums, Granvias and Noahs the most criticised. They were not involved in the three cases of the past few days but the Government is encouraged to enforce measures to ensure that the owners of the vehicles abide by road rules and regulations.
We have had a bad start to the festive season, but it is a situation we don’t want to continue. Police have an obvious role to promote road safety, together with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe National Road Administration.
But the best starting point to a culture of safer road usage is the driver. It must be a culture, not something that comes to mind when Christmas or Easter approaches.
Online Reporter