dyton mupawaenda
LAST week, the Government gazetted the age requirement for public service vehicles at 30 years and above in a move aimed at addressing the rising number of fatal accidents and recklessness on the roads.
The Government said the decision to increase the minimum age from 25 to 30 was meant to ensure that only mature and experienced drivers would be allowed to operate public service vehicles.
The Government had to act because the lawlessness on our roads has reached unacceptable levels.
Zimbabwe has been recording over 2 000 road traffic-related deaths annually, with negligent driving identified as a leading cause.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona confirmed the new regulations, in a Government Gazette on Friday.
The changes, which were with immediate effect, stated that drivers must have a minimum of five years’ experience to qualify to operate public service vehicles.
The changes were made in terms of Section 81 of the Road Traffic Act (Chapter 13:11), and stipulated that:
· That no individual may operate a passenger public service vehicle unless they are at least 30-years-old and have a minimum of five years of driving experience.
· The existing drivers aged between 25 and 30 who were already authorised to drive prior to this regulation will be allowed to continue.
It’s a culmination of interventions, which started last year, when Minister Mhona told the National Assembly that bus and kombi drivers will have to be aged 30 and above.
The new age requirement aligns with regional practices where the minimum age is 30 years for public service vehicles.
There has been an outcry in this country that the level of recklessness, especially when it comes to kombis, has reached a level which is not acceptable.
A lot of the blame has been heaped on the young drivers, many of whom appear unfazed by the dangers which come with speeding and the responsibility invested in their hands to ensure that the passengers in their vehicle have to arrive at their destinations safely.
Some analysts even claim that many of these young drivers will be drunk.
They claim many of them even take drugs and drive their kombis while being in a drunken state.
One of the young kombi drivers in Harare even has the audacity to call himself Lewis Hamilton, boasting that his vehicle is as fast as the one which is driven by the Formula One legend.
The analysts say there is a clear difference between these young daredevils and the mature drivers who are not only courteous but understand the responsibility they have to make sure that they ferry their passengers safely from one place to another.
We support the Government’s intervention to try and stop the madness on our roads.
It is also important for the Government to ensure that we don’t have some drivers, who are below the stipulated age limits, illegally changing their birth certificates, identity cards and drivers licences to claim that they are now within the stipulated age limits.
Online Reporter