Who is to blame for tyre bursts?

caused by burst tyres. l 26 August 2011 – 20 killed in a Chawasarira bus on its way to Chivi
l 3 August 2011 – 19 killed on the road from Harare to Concession
l 3 August 2011 – 13 killed (Harare-Mutare Road) and
l 29 August 2011 – 8 die, Bulawayo-Gweru Road.
(Other people have also died in accidents after their private vehicles burst tyres). As a result of the tyre bursts – accidents, those who are supposed to be heroes of Zimbabwe’s roads have become villains instead with their accusers wielding spears that glint in the sun and waving the weapons threateningly at them.
Not only that, the drivers of passenger and commercial vehicles are also at the mercy of;
l Transport operators who overwork them to make huge profits while these workers get a “measly wage of US$190 a month”, according to Association of Professional Drivers Association of Zimbabwe chairman Mr Albert Sibanda.
l The drivers must also carry money to “bribe” some of the police details who stop them on their way.
l They have to endure frets and protestation by passengers among other frustrations
But Mr Sibanda’s defence of the drivers is not as though they play no part in their undoing.
Of course, they do. First, most of them are speedsters who turn their routes into virtual speedways in competition for passengers.
Secondly, they overload passengers on vehicles that are at best, old, and at worst poorly maintained and play hide and seek with the police out there to oversee safety on the roads. However, as more people lose their lives in accidents caused by burst tyres, both Mr Sibanda and the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) have blamed traders and passenger transporters respectively, for endangering the lives of travellers by using unsafe tryes on their vehicles.
A SAZ senior employee in Harare, who would not be named, charged that passenger transport operators who bought buses outside Zimbabwe brought the vehicles into the country complete with tryes whose chemistry was incompatible with both the weather and road conditions here, thereby posing potential danger to the travelling public.
Such tryes on imported vehicles should be removed and replaced immediately with tyres manufactured locally, such as those by Dunlop Zimbabwe which, he said were tried and tested to meet Zimbabwe’s rugged road as well as the hot climate.
He agreed with Mr Sibanda that retreads, which many operators preferred because of their low prices, put travellers’ lives at greater risk as the tyres succumbed to heat and burst as a result. The SAZ worker urged public service vehicle owners to buy tyres made in Zimbabwe which, he said, bore his organisation’s logo, certifying their durability and safety.
Mr Sibanda urged the Government to “control the marketing of tyres” to ensure that motorists access tryes certified as suitable for use in Zimbabwe.
This could be done by choosing certain companies to sell recommended tryes whose prices the State could then subsidise for the motorists to afford them.
The subsidies, Mr Sibanda suggested, could come from the money paid for licensing their vehicles for operating licences, for drivers’ licences among other payments made by the motoring public.
Tyre companies should conduct free workshops for drivers on the proper use and maintenance of the tryes on their vehicles to curb the road carnage, Mr Sibanda said adding that drivers should be protected from law enforcement agents who demanded bribes from drivers on the road. Any corrupt practices by any stakeholder in the transport and trade industry should be mercilessly stamped out, and MPs as well as officials from the Ministries of Transport, Home Affairs and Local Government should keep in constant touch with drivers to know their challenges and their immediate solution, so that no one fattens on illicit business practices while drivers get poorer and poorer.
The PDAZ boss claimed that Zimbabwean society was riven by “disorder” and made an impassioned plea for a restoration of ubuntu/hunhu so that drivers, who play an important role in society, are accorded their due respect. Mr Sibanda pledged to work tirelessly promoting the welfare of bus and commercial transport drivers as well as that of drivers who operate underground at mines so that, he leaves behind – a “when I die” legacy of safety and its sustenance.
Whatever the argument, the purpose of the public transport industry is to carry passengers and get them to their final destination safely. The idea is not to make money without considering the safety of the people they carry. The public must have confidence in the transport sector and the transport sector must show appreciation of the business given to it by the passengers so much that passenger safety should be a matter of priority.
When one’s passenger vehicle is not in good shape, that vehicle must be parked and only returned to the road when it is certified fit and when they can deliver people to their required destination.
This idea of attempting to carry passengers on the belief that the vehicle might, might, and might take the passengers to their destination is not good.
There is need for stringent monitoring of the vehicles to avert defects that might be injurious to the passengers and drivers too must be conscious that they are carrying people and not stones.