GOVERNMENT is pushing legislative overhaul to stem road traffic accidents. Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona announced sweeping changes that tighten regulatory compliance and strengthen post-crash support systems.
The push by the government comes amid a spike in road traffic accidents.
Nine out of 10 accidents are caused by human error, according to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe.
Road traffic accidents rose to 15 350 in the second quarter of the year from 12 808 in the previous quarter, according to data from the statistical agency, ZimStat.
Of the 15 350 accidents reported in the second quarter, 492 were fatal. In the previous quarter, 378 were fatal.
It was a bloody second quarter of the year as 624 people lost their lives to road traffic accidents, up from 464 in the previous quarter.
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This means that about seven people lost their lives to accidents per day in the second quarter, up from five in the first quarter of the year.
The number of people injured jumped to 2 926 in the second quarter of 2025, up from 2 614 in the previous quarter.
The statistics are frightening.
Speaking at the commissioning of new inspection equipment at the Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID) Eastlea depot on Friday last week, Mhona said promulgated laws on driver licensing regimes, installation of speed-limiting and monitoring devices, and minimum age restrictions on drivers of public service vehicles, were part of reforms meant to halt road carnage.
He described the updated licensing regime as a critical reform intended to raise competency standards across the sector and ensure that drivers of public service vehicles meet stricter thresholds of skill and maturity.
The new rules, he said, were designed “to enhance professionalism and responsibility among operators who transport the public daily.”
Mhona underscored the government’s push to deploy technology, particularly for speed control across the transport system.
The statutory instrument requiring speed-limiting and monitoring devices, he noted, was introduced to curb high-risk behaviour linked to severe crashes.
By introducing such equipment, the government aims to bring scientific and real-time accountability to how public service vehicles and heavy transporters operate on Zimbabwe’s roads.
These reforms are key to stemming the carnage on the country’s roads.
However, the elephant in the room is the human factor.
The rules are in place on the number of passengers public service vehicles must carry. More often than not, they carry more than the stipulated passengers and, in some cases, standing passengers, especially rural-bound buses, but pass through road blocks unscathed. Some vehicles are unfit for our roads but smoke through roadblocks.
There is no enforcement, as some VID and police officers are paid by unscrupulous operators to allow the vehicles to pass through roadblocks.
Speed limits have been there since time immemorial, but are violated as motorists know they can grease the palms of police officers.
Until there is a mindset shift in motorists, transport operators, police and VID officials, the reforms will remain on paper.
We must pause and reflect. Should we continue losing seven precious lives per day to road traffic accidents?
None but ourselves can stem the road carnage. If transport operators, motorists, VID and police officers, passengers, and the government put all hands on deck, the number of road crashes will decrease. Nothing is insurmountable.