dyton mupawaenda
Freeman Razemba-Senior Reporter
The road to Mazowe leads due north of Harare, past a few suburbs and prime farming land, before it squeezes itself past a dam to the right and mountain range to the left.
The road is well-marked with a plethora of insignia informing the driver of sharp hairpin curves and, blind rises and dips.
Danger warning signs abound.
It is here, ironically, that some drivers have ignored all these, turning the road into a death-trap.
After all these warning signs, you can only blame human error for most of the accidents that occur here, if not all.
On Tuesday, five people perished and 13 others were injured in yet another road accident on this road.
It is not surprising that before this ink dries, another accident would have occurred on this stretch.
In the past 12 days at least 25 people have died in road accidents countrywide, and had the drivers been more careful, lives would have been saved, but caution is often thrown to the wind on the country’s highways where speed thrills and kills almost in equal measure.
Often, the major cause of accidents is human error, notably inattention, misjudgement, overtaking mistakes and failure to observe road rules and regulations by drivers.
Apart from speed, unroadworthy vehicles criss-cross the country’s roads, dodging law-enforcement agents, or bribing their passage, with scant regard to the sanctity of human life; smuggling people’s live to death.
Week in, week out, the country wakes up to the depressing and heart-wrenching news of beloved ones who would have fallen victim to road carnage, stern warnings follow, yet accidents keep on occurring, oft attributable to human error.
On Wednesday, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister, Felix Mhona, visited the accident scene where five people died and 13 others were injured after a commuter omnibus, which had no certificate of fitness, route authority and mandatory passenger insurance, collided with a haulage truck at the 37-kilometre peg along the Harare-Bindura-Road.
The accident occurred on Tuesday, at around 1pm, when the kombi was overtaking a Toyota Belta on a blind curve.
During the visit, Minister Mhona said; “In the past 10 days, we lost 25 lives, meaning that there is something wrong on our roads. This has affected the President. We are no longer going to take this lightly because there seems to be many things which are not being done properly.
“Some transport operators are found without proper certificates of fitness, which is where the problem is emanating from. There is recklessness in using our roads.”
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister, Kazembe Kazembe, said relevant Government ministries and stakeholders were working together to end the road menace.
“We will start with the police, are they using the right laws so that their job becomes easy? We will also look at how these road traffic regulations are being enforced. The President is not happy with the rate of accidents.”
But is that the solution?
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the police continues to implore drivers to be responsible and road safety conscious on the roads.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police continues to implore drivers to observe all road rules and regulations and avoid recklessly overtaking along road curves when observation and judgement is clearly affected.
“Above all, public service vehicle operators are urged to ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy before travelling on the country’s roads to safeguard human lives,” he said.
Passengers Association of Zimbabwe national co-ordinator Tafadzwa Goliati, said law should descend heavily on drivers and transport operators who are in the business of cutting corners.
“We urge the responsible Government agencies, like the Vehicle Inspections Department (VID) to intensify its operations to monitor vehicle road worthiness. Zimbabwe Republic Police is urged to also monitor road safety standards for vehicles. We are witnessing an increase in vehicles which are catching fire on our roads endangering passengers’ safety.
“The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development must set up a committee to look into the causes of bus fires which are now a common occurrence,” said Goliati.
Zimbabwe United Deregulated Commuter Operators (ZUDCO) president Mr Frederick Maguramhinga also expressed concern over an increase in road accidents.
“As a nation we have experienced an increase of road traffic accidents. Both public transport and private motorist are to blame. Whilst we accept that some roads need reconstruction and signage, human errors have contributed much.
“Speeding, wrong overtaking, faulty vehicles, texting and driving, misjudgement and drugs and alcohol abuse are the major causes. All these human errors can be dealt with properly through Associations regulating themselves with the help of enforcement,” he said.
He said the small illegal pirate vehicles had also changed the roads into war zones because of their behaviour.
“They do not care about human life they think about money only. Mushikashika vehicles are being left to do business without continuous serious monitoring and elimination. As associations we need to focus of fighting road safety within the existing compliance framework.
“There is need for more collaboration and action on agreed resolutions on tackling road carnage. This must be between enforcement and associations. The public must also take seriously the need to fight road carnage,” Mr Maguramhinga said.
Before this week fatal accident along the Bindura-Harare highway, another accident had claimed nine people in Manicaland, in a fatal road traffic accident involving a Pashon Link Coaches bus which caught fire at the 26-kilometre peg along Nyabadza-Gandanzara Road on June 16, 2024 at around 7pm.
The bus had 66 passengers on board when it caught fire, and 58 managed to escape while eight were presumed dead at the scene.
Two people were killed while 16 others were injured in Zvishavane when the Mazda Bongo they were travelling in veered off the road, overturned and landed on its roof at the 109-kilometre peg along the Zvishavane –Rutenga Road on 14 June at around 7:30pm.
In Kadoma two people were killed while nine others were injured when a Nissan Caravan kombi with 18 passengers on board hit a juvenile aged nine who was riding a bicycle.
In Marondera, two people were killed while eight others were injured when a Toyota Wish carrying 10 passengers veered off the road and hit a tree along the Kudenga–Karimba Road on the same day around 2pm.
This are just a few of the road accidents that costs the country’s taxpayers a leg and arm.
According to the Zimbabwe Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) an average of 4 250 accidents occurs every month throughout the country.
According to TSCZ, the country loses over US$400 million in costs related to road traffic accidents every year.
Online Reporter