Chronicle Editor
The First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa in conjunction with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) on Monday launched a road traffic safety awareness campaign ahead of the Christmas and New year holidays. Amai Mnangagwa who is also the National Transport and Drivers’ Association (NTDA) patron, spent the better part of Monday visiting tollgates where she interacted with motorists and other travellers.
According to TSCZ the country lost 111 people to road traffic accidents during the festive season last year hence this campaign ahead of the holidays when there is increased traffic on the country’s roads.
Statistic have shown that more than 80 percent of the road traffic accidents are as a result of human error which means they can be avoided.
Speaking during the launch of the awareness campaign the First Lady implored transporters to take extra care to ensure people’s lives are not lost through recklessness.
She said passengers should assist the police by discouraging drivers from drinking and driving, overloading as well as speeding.
The passengers should not hesitate to report defiant drivers at the next roadblock or nearest police station. “We must all unite and champion road safety at all levels from families, villages, churches and workplaces. Each family, church or community must have distinguished road safety champions and play the profound brother keeper role,” said Amai Mnangagwa.
She said communities must take great responsibility in reducing the carnage on the country’s roads. We want to urge travellers especially motorists to take heed of the First Lady’s warning on speeding and drunken driving.
Those travelling should plan well and give themselves adequate time to travel to their various destinations to avoid speeding. Those using public transport should not board overloaded buses while bus operators should avoid overworking drivers as some of the accidents witnessed during public holidays are as a result of fatigue.
Police on their part should ensure only roadworthy vehicles are on the country’s roads and those that decide to drink and drive should be locked up until they are sober to continue with their journey.
Amai Mnangagwa came face to face with two overloaded Gweru-bound Toyota Wish vehicles that had 11 and 12 passengers respectively at the Norton tollgate. This is a confirmation that traffic police are not enforcing traffic rules and regulations.
It had to take the First Lady to educate the two drivers on the dangers of overloading and they ended up offloading some of the passengers and refunded them. The country is already witnessing an upsurge in road traffic accidents and there is urgent need for all road users to exercise extreme caution to avoid accidents.
Workers from various cities and towns and those from the diaspora are joining families and relatives during this festive season hence the excitement which in many cases leads to road accidents.
We want to once again appeal to motorists entrusted with their passengers’ lives to strive to reach their respective destinations safely and thereafter celebrate.
Bongani Ndlovu