All Zimbabwe drivers face retests to flash our fake licences

ALL drivers face retests as part of measures to periodically assess their competency and flush out those with fraudulently - acquired drivers' licences.

Concern has also been raised that current driver training programmes do not include night driving tests whereas most accidents occur during that time.

The Government recently introduced retests for drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles and it was realised that the programme would not be complete without covering private motorists.

Secretary for Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development Mr Partson Mbiriri said they were working on ways to enable the Vehicle Inspection Department to extend retesting and inspection periodically to all motorists.

He said this was part of efforts to curb road carnage, which he said research had indicated would soon become a bigger killer than malaria and HIV and Aids.

Mr Mbiriri said this on Thursday at a workshop for stakeholders aimed at explaining the implication of Statutory Instrument 154 of 2010 which seeks to ban the importation of vehicles more than five-years-old among other provisions.

There was unanimity on the resolution by all stakeholders present who include the Zimbabwe Traffic Safety Council, Zimbabwe Republic Police Traffic section, VID and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.

Mr Mbiriri said annual inspections and retesting would be ideal, but considering how overwhelmed VID was by testing prospective drivers, they would start with either two or three-year retesting intervals.

"We can hardly cope with drivers licence issuance, what more if we introduce annual inspections? That would be enormous in terms of capacity. But going forward, it's something we are considering. It might not be annually, but after say two or three years," he said.

He said some drivers' sight would have deteriorated over the years, affecting their competency level, hence the need to continuously retest drivers.

Director of transport Mr Allowance Sango said a drivers' licence should not be a permanent document.

"A driver's licence should not be a life document like a birth certificate or national registration card. There should be retesting, it is known that there are a lot of ailments that come with age," said Mr Sango.

He said they were modifying the syllabus for learner drivers to provide for testing at night. The decision to retest drivers, it is hoped, will flush out those with fake certificates of competency.

Responding to police inquiries on what was Government's position on imported tyres not conducive to local weather conditions, Mr Mbiriri said he was discussing with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to ban their use in Zimbabwe.

He said many lives have been lost due to tyre bursts and it was necessary to bring legislation that deals with that.