Zimbabweans yesterday responded to the issue of road carnage that has seen many people losing their lives on the country’s roads.
VENERANDA LANGA
In interviews with NewsDay, most people cited un-roadworthy vehicles, unlicensed drivers, bad roads and corruption among others as the chief reasons behind the carnage. Others called for traffic awareness campaigns.
On Thursday 24 people were burnt to death while six others sustained serious injuries after a Mazda T35 truck they were travelling in collided with a Green Fuel tanker along Tanganda-Chiredzi Highway near Checheche business centre in Chipinge South.
The government has since declared the accident a national disaster.
In June 2011, more than 11 people lost their lives along Boshoff Road in Sunningdale, Harare,after suffering severe burns when a petrol tanker carrying 35 000 litres of petrol overturned when its driver, Hamphrey Muza, tried to avoid a collision with another vehicle.
Most of the people who perished were not cognisant of the dangers of fuel and had rushed to collect it from the truck.
Other accidents that have affected Zimbabwe are said to be due to human error and bad road systems.
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Zechariah Mushawatu, Zinasu spokesperson, said there was need for awareness campaigns to teach people, even school-going children about the dangers of trucks loaded with flammable substances like fuel.
“Most adverts that are flighted on road awareness are centred on telling people not to drink and drive, but we need more of them that caution people on dangers of flammable substances, dangers of lack of sleep or fatigue while driving and use of un-road worthy vehicles,” said Mushawatu.
“The police need to remove all un-roadworthy vehicles, but ensure there is no corruption whereby bribes might be taken to keep those vehicles unlawfully on our roads,” he said.
Mushawatu said there were also a lot of unlicenced drivers on the country’s roads.
“The new minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Obert Mpofu should ensure that strict measures are taken to root out corruption in the acquisition of licences. A lot of unworthy drivers are on our roads which is a very undesirable situation,” he said.
Chinhoyi Residents Trust chairman Silver Bhebe said there was a lot of bad behaviour on the country’s roads, adding that there should be heavy penalties for drunken drivers or those that speeded above maximum limits.
“I also think that our roads are in a very bad state and the government should rehabilitate them. Drivers do not follow traffic rules, it is just survival of the fittest and no one cares about anyone. Traffic rules should be enforced,” Bhebe said.
Chitungwiza resident Tendai Chisumba said ethanol was a highly flammable substance and proper mechanisms were needed to transport it without endangering other road users.
“The problem is that our rail transport system by the National Railways of Zimbabwe is not very effective and such highly flammable substances should preferable be transported by rail and not by road,” he said.
Human rights activist and director of Kwekwe-based Zimbabwe Organisation for Youth in Politics (ZOYP) said the problem was too much corruption in the acquisition of drivers’ licences. “Many people are getting licences through the back door and get onto the roads without enough driving experience. The effects of buying licences are tragic and they result in loss of lives on our roads,” Moyo said.
A Zimbabwean-based in the United Kingdom Raymond Makokowe said bad roads and lack of courtesy by drivers as they competed for the right of way were the root cause. “People should learn to be courteous to pedestrians and children crossing roads. That is lacking in Zimbabwe and there should be yearly checks to see the state of trucks and other vehicles on the roads,” Makokowe said.
NewsDay also posed a question to its readers on the subjects and got many responses.
A response by Libby Kuda Mwamuka attributed accidents to poor roads and careless kombi drivers.
“We must respect the law and avoid drinking of alcohol while driving,” Mwamuka said.
Munyaradzi Ncube said the state of busy roads such as the Harare to Beitbridge road and roads connecting to Masvingo should be improved. “Such roads are killer roads.” Robert Mbaiwa said: “Corruption, un-roadworthy vehicles, poor road systems, potholes, poor road markings and road signals, as well as drivers driving without licences are some of the causes of accidents.”
Another Zimbabwean, Kanoz Martin said dualisation and widening of roads was imperative to avoid accidents.
“Potholes should be filled up as a matter of urgency. Most of these roads were made in the colonial era for a smaller volume of traffic which travelled at very slow speeds. Proper road markings and signs should be applied without delay and the police should always check out for speeding drivers,” Martin said.
He said road revenue such as tollgate fees should be put to good use instead of being pocketed by greedy officials.
“It is said the revenue is increasing in tandem with the vehicle population yet what Treasury is said to be getting is decreasing. This means someone might be pocketing some coins,” Martin said.
Presley Zvemhari said the problem was that the government had done nothing to ensure Zimbabwe’s roads were safe since 1980.
“They have not done anything because they use air transport. The roads have potholes and are too narrow resulting in head-on collisions and side swiping. My question is do we really have a functioning government?” said Zvemhari.
Bulawayo-based medical practitioner Surrender Kapoikilu said drivers including train drivers must undergo full training or a handling course and be given a certificate before transporting fuel commodities.
He said the community must be educated to stay away from accidents where fuel tankers are concerned because it may take a few minutes before an explosion occurred.
“Most of these drivers just drive without any knowledge about the commodity and how dangerous it is. Speed also must be limited and owners of transporting companies must constantly monitor that speed limits are adhered to. Drivers that carry fuel must be sober at all times and breathalysed at the point of collection and at every delivery point. Each service station must have a breathaliser,” Kapoikilu said.
Recently, Senate was also seized with the issue of traffic and Mashonaland West senator Mike Byton Musaka suggested the construction of transit ways or special roads designed for city public passage traffic only to avoid collisions with big trucks.
Musaka said it was also necessary to construct ring roads or drive belts for intercontinental and intercity heavy goods trucks. “Construction of a ring road or drive belt on the outskirts of major cities should be taken into consideration to ensure big trucks moving out of the city on their way to another city or country quickly move into the ring road at the nearest point to find its way to Zambia or South Africa without driving through the city.
Similarly big trucks from Zambia on their way to South Africa will automatically get into the ring road without passing through the city area,” he said.
The senator said decongestion of roads can be achieved by way of constructing flyover bridges.
