Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, Online Reporter
The nation is grappling with a road safety crisis, with an average of five citizens losing their lives every day in traffic accidents, prompting the Government to announce a stringent new enforcement regime targeting police and vehicle inspection authorities.
The alarming fatality rate, which exceeds 2,000 deaths annually, was revealed by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona, while addressing the Senate last week.
The Minister expressed profound concern over the figures, given the country’s population size.
“We are actually worried as a Ministry with the numbers that we are witnessing on our roads, especially fatalities and even injuries.
“On average, we are witnessing five deaths per day, and per year we are in excess of 2,000, and you wonder,” said Minister Mhona.
He said the Government is now holding the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) directly accountable.
Minister Mhona disclosed that he has been in crucial talks with the Minister of Home Affairs to address glaring enforcement loopholes.
The Minister highlighted a common and troubling scenario where vehicles involved in fatal accidents are found to have improper documentation just after passing through a manned police roadblock.
To curb this, a new accountability framework has been agreed upon.
“We have agreed that going forward, we will not take it lightly. Police and VID must ensure that if anything happens after that bus passes through a manned roadblock and is involved in an accident, the officials must be taken into account. They must be liable for whatever happens,” he said.
Acknowledging the risk of collusion between motorists and enforcement agents, the Minister said technology is a key mitigatory measure.
He confirmed that the Government is championing a traffic management system involving surveillance cameras to reduce human intervention.
The procurement of breathalysers to combat drunk driving is also underway.
Despite these measures, the Minister lamented that over 90 percent of road accidents are attributable to human error.
He urged all drivers to value life and adhere to road rules, emphasising ongoing public education campaigns through the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe.
