Heroes Holiday Road Safety Campaign launched

The Heroes Holiday Road Safety Campaign has officially been launched in Harare today.

The programme is a joint initiative between the government, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), the police and other players in both the private and public sector.

The campaign launch began with a march in the morning along Samora Machel Avenue, and the marchers included transporters, the police, school children and other members of the public.

The procession's overall message was that this year's Heroes holiday should not record even a single accident.

On arrival at the Harare Gardens, the marchers were addressed by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Dr Joram Gumbo whose message urged all Zimbabweans to be safety conscious on roads throughout the year and not only during holidays.

Also invited to the occasion was the mother of the late Jocelyn Gomba, a Harare Girls High School pupil who was knocked down by a commuter omnibus driver as she was walking along the pavement.

Poets, musicians and other performers joined in at the launch with different entertainment acts, all resonating with the message urging all road users to respect lives.

Meanwhile, stakeholders say behavioural change, re-organisation of existing policies as well as adopting new measures will see the country curb fatalities on the country's roads.

They however expressed concern that the country will continue to record fatalities on the roads, as the vehicle population balloons and most roads are still single lanes, thus posing obvious risks to the motoring public and passengers.



"The country has also witnessed an increase in the number of vehicles over the years, yet the road network and its capacity to cope is not being widened, and the issue must be attended to urgently. The widening of roads is expected to curtail issues such as sideswiping, head-on collisions and smashes with stationary vehicles," Zimbabwe Republic Police Assistant Commissioner - Administration and Traffic, Anslem Mumba said.

Statistics released by the TSCZ indicate that 2011 was the bloodiest year as more than 2000 road accidents were recorded, in which more than 1900 people died and 16944 were injured.

Transport Director in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Mr Allowance Sango said "the current driving curriculum should be reviewed to include issues such as night driving."

"Accidents are by nature unavoidable, but the rate of road carnage in the country is unacceptably high. In that regard, behavioural change by motorists is important," TSCZ Chief Executive, Mr Obio Chinyere said.

Although the police are always on the road, accidents still occur and observers say deterrent penalties to errant road users should be imposed.

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