News / National
2000 people die on Zimbabwe roads every year- Senator
23 Jun 2016 at 06:58hrs | Views
Senator Lillian Timveos has claimed that police reports show that every year about 2000 perish in local roads an indication that the roads have become death traps.
Speaking in parliament Timveos said horrific accidents make headlines every day in Zimbabwe.
"This year in early May, 31 people perished and it was declared a national disaster. In another incident in early April, I think 15 people died and it was also declared a national disaster," she said. "This shows that, in Zimbabwe, we are facing a huge problem on our roads. Further statistics that were availed by the police early this year indicate that Zimbabwe's roads have become a death trap with an average of 2 000 people dying each year. Since 2006, road accidents have increased from at least a thousand to now over 2 000 people dying every year."
She said the number of unlicensed motorists has also increased.
"When I was researching on this motion, I discovered that since 2010, unlicensed motorists were about 4 356 and in 2015 when the statistics were last up dated, the number is well over 44 000. These issues really need to be looked at. This only shows how rampant corruption is in the issuance of licences and this is very serious," she said.
"Also issues to do with human error are rampant, last year during the festive season 93.4% of accidents were due to human error. Mistakes such as speeding, misjudgment, overtaking, following to close to other cars, maybe fatigue, drinking and driving actually caused quite a lot of fatalities on our roads. So, we need to look closely on how we can help as government to stop all these fatalities."
Timveos said also, there are a lot of road signs that are not showing properly for example, give way and stop signs do not really show.
"That makes more human errors on the roads. So, we need to look at our signs and see how we can improve. The government needs to look for funding to make sure that we improvise on our road signs so that we avoid all these accidents that are happening," she said.
"We also need to improve on vehicle inspections. There are a lot of unworthy vehicles moving on the roads. If you travel during the night, many motorists know that the police are few in the night and most of the cars that you see do not have lights."
She said this really needs to be looked at because accidents have taken a lot of lives and there is a need to do something as a country.
"Zimbabwe needs a wide range of co-operative efforts if the country is to end road traffic accidents. All stakeholders and even passengers themselves, I am sure they have rights," she said. "In the end, it is them that die when the driver is speeding. For example, if you see that a driver is speeding you should tell him to reduce speed. There should be awareness campaigns to let passengers know that they have rights to tell drivers to reduce speed or to stop them from driving when they are drunk."
She said government needs money to improve roads.
"We know that the railway system is not working at the moment. Workers are complaining because they are not getting paid. If the railway line was in order, maybe there would be few trucks on the roads. I have noticed that in South Africa, truck drivers use their own roads while the small vehicles drive on the other side, which actually helps. It is unlike our highways. I travelled on Masvingo road, coming here on Monday. Believe me, something must be done on that road," she said.
"I know every Hon. Member who stood before me has spoken about the Masvingo road and nothing seems to be happening there. The road is bad. It has got bumps, twists and turns and it needs to be taken care of."
The senator said as for the Air Zimbabwe, definitely needs to be improved.
"We need more airlines to move. I do not know if it is true but I saw an advertisement that said Air Zimbabwe would start travelling to London. I think that would be something exciting and would make us improve on our airline. It is time that the government looks for money to improve our highways because the Zimbabwean community is crying," she said.
Speaking in parliament Timveos said horrific accidents make headlines every day in Zimbabwe.
"This year in early May, 31 people perished and it was declared a national disaster. In another incident in early April, I think 15 people died and it was also declared a national disaster," she said. "This shows that, in Zimbabwe, we are facing a huge problem on our roads. Further statistics that were availed by the police early this year indicate that Zimbabwe's roads have become a death trap with an average of 2 000 people dying each year. Since 2006, road accidents have increased from at least a thousand to now over 2 000 people dying every year."
She said the number of unlicensed motorists has also increased.
"When I was researching on this motion, I discovered that since 2010, unlicensed motorists were about 4 356 and in 2015 when the statistics were last up dated, the number is well over 44 000. These issues really need to be looked at. This only shows how rampant corruption is in the issuance of licences and this is very serious," she said.
"Also issues to do with human error are rampant, last year during the festive season 93.4% of accidents were due to human error. Mistakes such as speeding, misjudgment, overtaking, following to close to other cars, maybe fatigue, drinking and driving actually caused quite a lot of fatalities on our roads. So, we need to look closely on how we can help as government to stop all these fatalities."
Timveos said also, there are a lot of road signs that are not showing properly for example, give way and stop signs do not really show.
"That makes more human errors on the roads. So, we need to look at our signs and see how we can improve. The government needs to look for funding to make sure that we improvise on our road signs so that we avoid all these accidents that are happening," she said.
"We also need to improve on vehicle inspections. There are a lot of unworthy vehicles moving on the roads. If you travel during the night, many motorists know that the police are few in the night and most of the cars that you see do not have lights."
She said this really needs to be looked at because accidents have taken a lot of lives and there is a need to do something as a country.
"Zimbabwe needs a wide range of co-operative efforts if the country is to end road traffic accidents. All stakeholders and even passengers themselves, I am sure they have rights," she said. "In the end, it is them that die when the driver is speeding. For example, if you see that a driver is speeding you should tell him to reduce speed. There should be awareness campaigns to let passengers know that they have rights to tell drivers to reduce speed or to stop them from driving when they are drunk."
She said government needs money to improve roads.
"We know that the railway system is not working at the moment. Workers are complaining because they are not getting paid. If the railway line was in order, maybe there would be few trucks on the roads. I have noticed that in South Africa, truck drivers use their own roads while the small vehicles drive on the other side, which actually helps. It is unlike our highways. I travelled on Masvingo road, coming here on Monday. Believe me, something must be done on that road," she said.
"I know every Hon. Member who stood before me has spoken about the Masvingo road and nothing seems to be happening there. The road is bad. It has got bumps, twists and turns and it needs to be taken care of."
The senator said as for the Air Zimbabwe, definitely needs to be improved.
"We need more airlines to move. I do not know if it is true but I saw an advertisement that said Air Zimbabwe would start travelling to London. I think that would be something exciting and would make us improve on our airline. It is time that the government looks for money to improve our highways because the Zimbabwean community is crying," she said.
Source - Byo24News
