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Road fatalities increase by 83%

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THE 2012 festive season marked a new road traffic accident record in which 260 people lost their lives compared to 142 who died during the same period in 2011.

THE 2012 festive season marked a new road traffic accident record in which 260 people lost their lives compared to 142 who died during the same period in 2011, police have said.

Report by Phillip Chidavaenzi

In a traffic report covering the period from December 15 last year to January 15 this year, the police noted that the increase translated to 83% although the recorded increase in accidents was a mere 5,6% as 1 928 accidents were recorded during the same period last year, from 1 825 in 2011.

“This increase is commensurate with the increase in the number of new vehicles being brought into the country,” the police said.

“The old vehicles that are still plying the roads, the new wave of newly licensed drivers who lack experience and the apparent slow pace of development or improvement on the country’s road network (have also contributed).”

The police said during the period under review, they had committed 90% of their manpower to “operational matters”.

Most of the accidents, according to the police, were caused by speeding, overtaking, turning errors, disregard of proper braking distance, inattention and misjudgment as well as inexperience.

“In urban areas, the state of the roads is poor and in the majority of cases pothole-riddled. This element, exacerbated by the incessant rains in the period under review, made driving a nightmare and facilitated the occurrence of road traffic accidents,” the police said.

The police recommended private driving schools to include night driving in their syllabus and local authorities to attend to potholes in urban roads. They further called for public awareness of one-way streets to lessen driving confusion.

“While the introduction of one-way streets is a welcome move, the process has not been accompanied by the necessary publicity that would reduce confusion caused by vehicles driving against one-way direction,” reads the report.

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