Holiday death toll reaches 103

Of the six killed, three were killed in Masvingo while Harare, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central provi-nces recorded one death each.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri yesterday said a total of 1 181 accidents were recorded since the start of the festive season on December 15.
Of the 1 181 of them were serious.

The major causes of the accidents have been attributed to speeding, reckless driving, drinking and driving and slippery roads.
“During this period, we impounded 2 256 unroadworthy vehicles and issued 96 511 tickets to motorists for various offences,” Supt Phiri said.
He urged road users to obey traffic rules and regulations. Supt Phiri said the police will remain on the ground to ensure that sanity prevails on the country’s major roads.

He said the roads would be busy again next week when people travel from different parts of the country in preparation for the 2012 first school term.
Others who have visited are also expected to leave the country after the holiday and the volume of traffic is likely to increase.
Ninety-eight people were killed, while 1 090 others were injured in 1 119 accidents recorded during the Christmas and New Year holidays last year.

About 2 909 vehicles were impou-nded during the same period.
Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri recently indicated that Zimbabwe had continued to lose lives during the festive season as a result of road carnage.
He challenged public transporters to observe the sanctity of life by ensuring that vehicles were roadworthy.

Meanwhile, the National Traffic Section is carrying out traffic awareness campaigns countrywide to educate the public and motorists.
Police National Traffic section spokesperson Inspector Tigere Chi-gome yesterday said they would continue carrying out the awareness campaigns.

“We are carrying out these campaigns in conjunction with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Red Cross and the Blood Transfusion Services to educate the public during this festive season,” he said.
Insp Chigome said officers were patrolling in the country’s major highways, towns and cities, distributing flyers to road users.
He said there was a large volume of traffic this festive season, resulting in the high number of roadblocks countrywide.
“We managed to reach a lot of people during the awareness campaigns and we won’t stop carrying them out,” said Insp Chigome.
The fliers being distributed are written in Shona, Ndebele and English.