Wenslus Murape
Hardly a week passes without a fatal road accident involving a commuter omnibus, popularly known as kombis, or the various smaller vehicles under the collective “Mshikashika” name.
Most popular are the Honda Fit, Toyota Wish and
Yesterday three people died while 31 passengers were injured following a head-on collision involving two kombis along the Seke Road.
Reckless driving was to blame and a police officer, who was driving the kombi at fault, has since been charged for Contravening Section 49 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act chapter 9:23 “Culpable Homicide”.
That the accident took place before 7am on a holiday underlines the recklessness of kombi drivers on our roads.
They are always in a hurry and will not accept any delays on the road, especially those plying the Chitungwiza highway.
It is a mentality that is very common with the public transport drivers at any time of the day.
What is becoming clear is that most kombi drivers will not reform despite the high number of deaths caused by their colleagues.
The reckless drivers have ruined lives. Most of the victims are motorists or commuters, who would have played their part in ensuring accident-free journeys.
Most of the kombis currently on the roads, especially in Harare and Chitungwiza look dilapidated and unroadworthy with some having shattered windscreens.
Both kombis and Mshikashika vehicles are guilty of overloading on virtually every trip they make. Kombis add an extra seat once they leave the Vehicle Examination Department whereby a vehicle licenced to carry 15 passengers will jump to 20 immediately after.
This results in passengers being squeezed into the kombis, leaving commuters with little room to manoeuvre and this has also been a contributing factor to the high number of deaths each time kombis are involved in accidents.
Mshikashika operators are the worst road users, by a distance. They have total disregard for traffic laws and never respect other road users.
They load too many passengers and then go speeding as if they are the only road users.
It has been claimed that most people driving Mshikashika vehicles are not licenced drivers and are seen drinking alcohol in broad daylight, especially where they ‘rank’.
On their part, commuters do not help matters as they ask to be dropped or picked at random stops along busy roads.
Authorities have promised to rid our roads of these menacing people but people are not impressed when they see the Mshikashikas setting up their own ranks in the middle of busy roads, as if to declare they do not fear anyone.
So they are lawless whether parked or in motion and deaths will continue to rise as long as they stay on our roads.
Something has to be done to save lives on the roads, which are being upgraded across the country.
Online Reporter