admin
As most Zimbabweans start celebrating the four-day Easter holiday weekend, which falls within the school holidays, many people will be travelling, going to church services and gatherings, and going to parties, with a fair amount of this being done at night.
So there are higher than usual risks of accidents and road deaths, and almost all of these involve carelessness and errors by road users that could have been avoided if everyone followed the advice of the police and Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and if everyone simply stayed alert for other road users.
The normal advice has been given to drivers: give way when you are supposed to; do not drive faster than speed limits and road or traffic conditions, allow; do not drive when you are very tired; do not have more than one or two alcoholic drinks before driving; make sure your vehicle is in good working order, especially with lights at night and remember that other road users may not be as vigilant as you and be ready to take safe avoiding action.
Pedestrians also should maximise their survival chances, remembering that they are the most vulnerable road users, and not just rely on drivers missing them.
They should walk on the right side of the road, wear light clothing or reflective clothing, try to keep to the edge of the road or the verge, and in a recent addition to the advice not wear earphones, while walking so they can hear vehicles coming up behind them.
Cyclists also need to remember they can be difficult to see at night and should wear reflective clothing. Those reflective vests sold for tiny sums have probably saved far more lives of cyclists than the drivers who are legally bound to carry them in their car to wear when changing a tyre at night.
Not everyone obeys laws or even common sense. Most drivers know that pedestrians are not obliged to be sober, and need to keep a sharp look out for people weaving along the verge, slow down and be ready to take evasive action.
Small children on holiday can get excited and jump into the road. There are many other dangers and all drivers need to be able to cope.
One factor that few consider at Easter is the moon.
On the positive side Easter is defined as the first Sunday after the first full moon after our Autumn equinox, so when the moon rises during the Easter weekend night visibility increases dramatically.
But on the negative side that full moon this year is just before the holiday, so throughout the weekend there will be a lengthening period of total darkness between the end of the short evening twilight and the rising of the moon.
Tomorrow, the first day of the holiday, that dark period will be very short, but by Monday there will be more than two hours of total darkness in the early evening between the end of twilight and the rising of the moon.
The problem is that this early evening dark period is often the busiest time of the day for many doing any night travelling.
Those prepared to have a short delay before driving or walking will find they can do their evening and night travelling with a dramatic increase in visibility and thus safety.
The biggest killers on the roads have been identified as drinking and driving, speeding, and failing to stop or give way.
Holiday times are when many people enjoy a drink, which is not that dangerous if they then drive, but most like more than one, and that is when the danger comes in.
Someone with a bit of a buzz might think they are super alert and unaffected, but the evidence is definite, they are not fit to drive and are a danger to themselves and everyone else.
The police can diagnose totally drunkenness at check points, and at least keep the driver under wraps for a while the drunkenness wears off, but the lesser levels of illegal alcohol levels, when the driver can still walk and talk, but is several times more likely to have an accident, are difficult to detect without a breathalyser, and unfortunately these are not yet standard issue for traffic police and at check points.
The same safety experts and their statisticians were surprised to find that talking on a mobile phone while driving is the equivalent of having two or three drinks while driving.
But the figures do not lie and drivers wanting to answer their phone or make a phone call need to pull over to the verge while they do this to reduce the risks. In any case it is the law, and the law is not something arbitrary but based on hard science.
Speeding is always a problem, especially at night. The speed limit is set as a maximum permitted speed, not an ideal speed, and while drivers are forbidden to exceed it, although some take the chance, they need to travel slower in heavy traffic, in reduced visibility and at night.
The major problem with speed is that it takes time to stop. One test that experts advise to highlight the problem is to see far ahead you can see a dark obstruction, something that does reflect light.
Then test how long it takes to react and start braking and come to a halt at different speeds. The requirement is that the reaction and stopping distance must be less than the seeing distance, and at night this requires speeds significantly below the speed limit.
The Met Department has announced that the rain season is basically over and no one is expecting even showers this weekend.
But it is only just over, so rivers are still flowing well and even many streams have water in them.
While bridges are not submerged, it is still potentially dangerous when fording a river and pedestrians might have to miss the short cuts and walk to the nearest bridge or safe crossing point.
The main thing that everyone has to remember is that it is so easy to die or kill in a road accident, so any mistakes can lead to serious injury or death, and that not all road users are thinking that clearly so we all have to be ready to swerve, brake or if on foot to jump out of the way.
Good sense and alertness will keep us all alive, especially if everyone obeys the rules of the road, but we all need to be contributing to that desirable state of affairs.
Online Reporter