Less deaths recorded during Easter

Filbert Ruwende Chronicle Reporter
THIRTY people were killed over the Easter holiday in traffic accidents this year, a slight decrease compared to the 34 who perished during the same period last year.National police spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi said 287 accidents were recorded during Easter and Independence Day holidays, slightly down from 301 in 2013.

“Thirty people were killed this year compared to 34 in 2013. Two hundred and twenty-nine were injured compared to 157 in 2013. We impounded 359 vehicles and we issued 9,935 tickets for various road offences” he said

Chief Supt Nyathi said Manicaland had the most fatalities, recording eleven deaths.

“Manicaland recorded eleven deaths while Harare recorded four, Bulawayo one, Mashonaland Central one, Mashonaland East one, Matabeleland North four, Midlands three, and Masvingo two,” he said.

Chief Supt Nyathi said the causes of accidents included speeding, overtaking on blind spots, failure to give way and common negligence.

“Human error was the main cause for accidents. For example you find a driver travelling at night with his lights off. This is an invitation for danger,” he said.

He attributed the decrease in accidents to the awareness campaign that was launched by police as well as the number of police deployments in the form of road blocks.

“We launched an awareness campaign to encourage drivers to drive carefully during the Easter period. This programme was a success because we had few people dead compared to last year,” he added.

Chief Supt Nyathi encouraged all drivers in the country to play a part in avoiding road traffic accidents.

“Our accident statistics decreased drastically this year due to the awareness campaigns but we encourage drivers to play their part in avoiding accidents. Some drivers overtake in blind spots, speed and some are negligent. We encourage drivers to take self-examinations before taking decisions so that they avoid killing or injuring other people,” he said.