News / National
Age limit cut off for drivers proposed
04 Sep 2014 at 02:04hrs | Views
THE National Professional Drivers Association yesterday proposed that people over the age of 90 should be banned from driving on the country's roads.
At a meeting held in Bulawayo to discuss the new Highway Code Draft, National Professional Drivers Association chief executive officer Albert Sibanda said people over 90 years old were a danger to other road users.
"The new Highway Code must set a cut-off age for driving a motor vehicle due to the fact that the majority of old people, especially those above 90 years old can not concentrate on the road. They also have poor eyesight," said Sibanda.
Asked on why the Highway Code needed upgrading, Product Development and Marketing Manager of the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) Ernest Muchena said:
"We are aiming at improving road safety and reducing accidents, even though the Highway Code is not a therapy to all road problems."
Participants highlighted the need to set new speed regulations on the country's roads.
Melisa Sibanda, a motorist, proposed that the speed limit on highways should be increased from 120 km per hour to 140 km per hour.
She said the speed limits within cities should remain the same.
Participants said there was a need to teach cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians about rules, ethics, morals and making the defensive driving certificate compulsory.
The workshop is part of consultations the TSCZ is conducting as it has begun working on a draft paper for the country's new Highway Code designed to conform to standards in the Sadc region.
Features of the new proposed code include more diagrammatic information, regulations for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Road traffic signs have been grouped into three classes namely road signs, road markings and road signals unlike in previous code which had five classes. Stop signs, give way signs are now in blue color and in a circular ring rather than yellow triangle.
The workshop was attended by the police traffic section, Prison Services, Vehicle Inspection Depot, Tshova Mbayiwa, coach and bus operators.
At a meeting held in Bulawayo to discuss the new Highway Code Draft, National Professional Drivers Association chief executive officer Albert Sibanda said people over 90 years old were a danger to other road users.
"The new Highway Code must set a cut-off age for driving a motor vehicle due to the fact that the majority of old people, especially those above 90 years old can not concentrate on the road. They also have poor eyesight," said Sibanda.
Asked on why the Highway Code needed upgrading, Product Development and Marketing Manager of the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) Ernest Muchena said:
"We are aiming at improving road safety and reducing accidents, even though the Highway Code is not a therapy to all road problems."
Participants highlighted the need to set new speed regulations on the country's roads.
She said the speed limits within cities should remain the same.
Participants said there was a need to teach cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians about rules, ethics, morals and making the defensive driving certificate compulsory.
The workshop is part of consultations the TSCZ is conducting as it has begun working on a draft paper for the country's new Highway Code designed to conform to standards in the Sadc region.
Features of the new proposed code include more diagrammatic information, regulations for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Road traffic signs have been grouped into three classes namely road signs, road markings and road signals unlike in previous code which had five classes. Stop signs, give way signs are now in blue color and in a circular ring rather than yellow triangle.
The workshop was attended by the police traffic section, Prison Services, Vehicle Inspection Depot, Tshova Mbayiwa, coach and bus operators.
Source - chronicle
