dyton mupawaenda
Tatenda Chinoda-Correspondent
Death is an inevitable fact of life, but no-one wants to die. This article, a Christmas and New Year gift to those who care, seeks to unequivocally reflect on the road death menace in Zimbabwe and proffer overnight low-hanging pragmatic solutions.
The time is now for heritage-based action [solutions] against the wanton loss of lives and limbs on our roads. In this edition, I am limiting my reflections on driver errors.
Some of the driver-related causes of road traffic collisions include speeding. This can be excessive or inappropriate speed by negligent drivers and those who drive to show off in their neighbourhood, or to their loved ones in the car.
In a root cause analysis, what causes the driver to speed can be a cocktail of many factors. Drink-and drug-driving is driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs especially during public holidays, Fridays, weekends, whenever partying, from football matches and political rallies.
The incidences normally occur at night [from 6pm to 6am following day]. Under the circumstances, this habit is almost synonymous to negligent/reckless driving and speeding.
Emotional driving: This is a situation whereby a driver is driving under the influence of emotions be they of joy or sorrow, superstitious beliefs and even hallucinations.
Joy normally degenerates into euphoria and speeding.
Incitement — is when peers, passengers, family members etc incite the driver to speed. Unlicensed driving — is when a driver without a license drives a car without full knowledge of the behaviour of the car when subjected to acceleration sense.
Psychological instability due to fear of both the known and the unknown and ignorance can lead the driver to speeding.
Suicide and targets by unruly motorists
Kombi drivers, rank marshals and touts live from hand to mouth, on a daily basis.
Any disruption on their daily trips means loss of earnings. The more the trips the more the earnings. In such a socio-economic psychological milieu, speeding is inevitable.
Suicidal driving occurs when, under attack by traffic and municipal police, drivers become animals in a jungle and engage in carefree driving so long as they take escape routes away from the arm of the law.
Speeding is one the rogue driver’s escape strategies regardless of the traffic, road, weather and load situations.
Some operators may also give their drivers ambitious time targets and hence induce pressure to speed in order to meet the given targets.
Rank driving occurs when some drivers deploy their rank of office, political and financial statuses [mbinga] whenever they drive on public roads. They want other motorists to always yield precedence and ‘feel them’ their ranks in society.
This often results in road rage. Such drivers, who may also engage in romance with their loved ones whilst driving, are set candidates for speeding.
Racing is illegal on public roads. But due to suppression of common sense, driving under the influence as well as euphoria, cases of fatal crashes happen due to this illegal, primitive and barbaric racing.
Unauthorised driving is when a driver [a worker, a relative, a friend etc] is driving a car without express authority from the owner of the car or administration or diverts route. In the fray of the fear of being caught driving without authority or offside, the temptation to speed in very high.
Unplanned/delayed driving is about poor trip scheduling which often breeds the temptation to speed in order to cover up for lost time. It is better to be late than to be the late.
Delays may be caused at road blocks, entry points or due to poor journey planning by the driver. This is a recipe for speeding.
I have deliberately focused on speeding because research has shown that more than 50% of all fatal road traffic crashes are due to this risk factor.
Therefore, during this festive season, drivers MUST:
Drive at appropriate safer speeds. Plan their trips to travel during the day.
Night driving is twice as dangerous as day-time driving. Have plenty of sleep the night before any trip in order to stay refreshed for the driving task.
Drive sober, avoid drug driving. Stay alert whenever at the wheel. Designate another driver whenever you feel unfit to drive. Always expect the unexpected of other drivers and road users.
Never let an unlicenced or inexperienced driver to drive your car. Always be a road safety champion. Always carry out all pre-trip checks. Ensure that your vehicle is roadworthy, and prohibit your underage children from driving vehicles.
Peers, families and churches are encouraged to have road safety champions who serve as constant reminders of these life-saving reflections when using our roads. Road safety is a repent or perish gospel!
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Road Accident-Free Christmas and a Fruitful 2024.
Tatenda Chinoda is a veteran defensive driving instructor and Roads4Life Champion for the African Region. For any feedback, feel free to contact him on cell: +263772966075 [email protected]
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