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Multi-sectoral approach: A panacea to road carnage

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ZIMBABWE’S roads have become death traps. Road accidents have claimed a number of lives with an average of 2 000 people dying each year on the roads.

ZIMBABWE’S roads have become death traps. Road accidents have claimed a number of lives with an average of 2 000 people dying each year on the roads.

Jairos Saunyama

Accident of kombi crushed

Despite efforts by police and other relevant stakeholders to deal with the scourge, lives continue to be lost on the roads, particularly during public holidays.

During the opening week of the 2015/2016 festive season, seven people perished in a road accident in Murehwa and within three days along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Road, another seven perished.

With the festive season already halfway, more than 30 people have perished, with high chances that there will be more carnage on the highways and other roads.

The festive season period runs between December 15 and January 15.

“It is scary, our roads are getting more dangerous each day. Something must be done to avoid road carnage,” said 60-year-old Winnet Mbanga of Marondera.

“The police, government and other stakeholders should do something before it is too late. The police are always on the road, but accidents still occur.”

Statistics released by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) a few years ago painted a grim picture.

2011 was the country’s bloodiest year as it recorded 2 000 road deaths in which approximately 1 992 people died and 16 944 were injured. The report indicated that each year since 2006, road accident fatalities have increased from a total of 1 037 deaths with media reports indicating that about five people die on Zimbabwe’s roads daily.

Edson Ziso, in his 2013 research at University of Adelaide, Australia, said the country lacked a proper policy to deal with road accidents.

“The public policy deficit with regard to effective response to carnages on the roads can be traced back to the single-digit figures of people who daily lose their lives and sustain injuries because sadly it takes major road accidents where people perish in large numbers to make the relevant authorities sit up and take notice.

“By any standards, road accident statistics are extremely disturbing especially as the rates are increasing at an alarming rate. It can, therefore, be argued that the existing measures for making our roads safer at either policy or operational level are insufficient at best or failing at worst.”

Ziso said while it could not be contested that accidents were, by their very nature, unavoidable in life, the case for Zimbabwe was that the rate of fatalities is unacceptably high.

“More importantly, with a reorganisation of relevant existing policy as well as further new measures, a drastic reduction is very possible. In our specific context, it is sad to say the deaths and injuries to persons and property are largely avoidable, but for a glaringly inadequate policy regime further exacerbated by implementation challenges,” he said.

“As innocent people continue to be affected by these accidents — which serve as a reminder that none of us is safe — the situation grows more desperate and urgent remedies are required.”

Ziso said a multi-sectoral approach was needed to avoid more loss of lives due to road accidents.

Zimbabwe has witnessed a surge in the number of vehicles in the past decade.

Among other factors, this has been occasioned by the improved accessibility of vehicles from foreign markets, Japan in particular. The “ex-Japs” are popular as they are not only easy to procure offshore, but generally affordable to Zimbabwe’s average citizen.

“As the vehicle population balloons, the road network and its capacity to cope is not corresponding likewise. At the same time, because the majority of these vehicles are used already, it goes without saying that they have well passed their best lives.

“Many other issues can be traced to this fact as discussed below, including increased pressure on law enforcement, maintenance issues, congestion, pollution, and corruption on the roads,” added Ziso.

Pirate taxi operators, who drive the Vitz, Honda Fit, Toyota Noah, Ipsum model of vehicles and other makes have been witnessed passing through police roadblocks despite being visibly overloaded and most of the vehicles having worn-out tyres.

The police, however, say they are moving out to stamp corruption, which has been blamed for fuelling road accidents in the country, during this festive season.

Although corruption is a factor, the condition of major highways has also been a cause for concern.

Most roads are single lanes, posing obvious risks to the motoring public and passengers. Sideswiping, head-on collisions as well as smashes with stationary vehicles are some of the factors normally fingered as major causes of accidents on the highways.

The Harare-Beitbridge highway has become scary and government has been slow in reconstructing the busiest road in the country. However, government has been inviting tenders to construction companies for the construction of the road.

In November this year, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for deterrent penalties to errant road users.

Speaking at the inaugural Africa Road Safety Day national commemoration held at Mkoba Stadium in Gweru, the Vice-President expressed dismay over the current punishment meted on traffic offenders, especially in comparison with punishment meted on cattle rustlers.

“Deterrent penalties must be meted out on errant road users. If stock theft courts a minimum sentence of seven years imprisonment, why should a driver killer be fined a mere $100 and get away with murder? Road carnage destroys lives, limbs and property, hence it is an enemy of economic growth.

“Road carnage has become the nation’s second biggest killer after the HIV pandemic and education authorities have done well by moving towards incorporating road safety into the curriculum,” he said.

The commemorations were held under the theme: Towards Enhanced Implementation of the African Plan of Action Measures for the 2011-2020 Road Safety Decade of Action.

Recently, the Ministry of Transport unveiled new traffic regulations that include the arrest of motorists travelling without spare wheels, reflective triangles and fire extinguishers among other crimes.

The regulations were made by Minister of Transport Joram Gumbo, in terms of Section 81, of the Road Traffic Act (Chapter 13:11).

The local governance authorities are also being blamed for not playing their part in preventing road accidents in the country.

“There are various other basic measures that need to be taken to complement decisive steps towards curbing road accidents. Just to exemplify; that stray animals – both domestic and wild – can encroach on highways posing serious risks to motorists also points to a deficiency in local government because security or parameter fencing has been vandalised at will,” said Ziso.

Stray animals have been also a major cause of road accidents on major highways in the country.

According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police, a total of 1 692 people were killed on our roads last year. This was a slight improvement over the previous year which was recorded 1 787 deaths due to road carnage. Although there was a slight decrease, the number of deaths is shocking. According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, 94% of road accidents in Zimbabwe are a result of human error.

In this view, a multi-sectoral approach from government, local authorities, law enforcement, motorists, and other stakeholders is required to make bold considerations that confront the very causes and factors that lead to daily loss of life and limb.