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Zimbabwe has started recording an increase in road traffic accidents that are claiming many lives. Last Thursday six people died on the spot and 19 others were seriously injured when the bus they were travelling in side-swiped a haulage truck and caught fire along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Road.
Another eight people were killed and five others were seriously injured on Saturday after the vehicle they were travelling in crashed into a tree and overturned along the Gweru-Mvuma Road. According to Midlands police spokesman, Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko, the driver of the Toyota Granvia lost control after a rear tyre burst. Inspector Mahoko said preliminary investigations showed that the driver of the vehicle, which was heading to Harare from Bulawayo, was speeding.
Last week 15 Zimbabweans who are members of the Johane Masowe WeChishanu apostolic sect died when the truck they were travelling in collided head-on with a bus along the R510 highway in Rustemburg, South Africa. According to South African police, the driver of the truck encroached onto the lane of oncoming traffic while trying to overtake another vehicle resulting in the head-on collision with the bus. All the people in the truck died on the spot. Another 13 Zimbabweans were killed in a similar accident that occurred between Musina and Makhado in Limpopo Province in the neighbouring country about a month ago.
The increasing number of Zimbabweans dying in traffic accidents locally and in neighbouring South Africa is a cause for concern. The accidents according to both South African and Zimbabwean police are as a result of human error which means they can be avoided. We have repeatedly called on the police to increase their presence on major highways and the police have responded by increasing roadblocks.
Motorists are being fined for speeding and other traffic offences but what is worrying is that despite these deterrent measures, motorists continue to flout road rules and regulations resulting in the increased carnage on our roads. It is a fact that the country has witnessed an increased volume of traffic on its major highways as the population of vehicles in the country has increased sharply.
Cars especially the imported second-hand ones from countries such as Japan and Britain are affordable to the majority of people hence many people now own cars. The increase in the volume of traffic on our roads could be partly to blame for the many accidents the country is recording but as already stated many of these accidents are caused by drivers. It is speeding and reckless drivers who overtake on blind rises who in most cases are involved in accidents.
In the event of a tyre burst, a speeding driver cannot control the vehicle and as a result many of them overturn or crash into trees like what happened to the driver of the Mvuma-Gweru road accident. We have said it before that police officers cannot be expected to cover every inch of the highways so the best person to police the drivers are the passengers themselves. It is passengers who should complain when a driver is driving recklessly or is speeding. They say speed thrills but it kills so passengers should not allow drivers to put their lives at risk.
Passengers should have the guts to order the driver to slow down and in the event of the driver refusing to comply they must demand to be dropped. We want at this juncture to appeal to motorists to ensure that they always drive at safe speeds. Innocent lives are being lost everyday as a result of reckless driving. What is painful is that at times good drivers find themselves victims of these reckless drivers. Sanity should prevail on our roads to save lives and property.
Online Reporter