Stop road carnage

More than 20 lives have been lost in road traffic accidents, stealing the cheers from the festive season for the affected families.
The major cause of these road traffic accidents has largely been human error.

The road traffic accidents come despite a nationwide campaign by the police, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, and the Vehicle Inspectorate Department as part of measures to reduce the carnage on the country's roads.

It means all the efforts are not yielding the desired results.

Have we exhausted all the remedies to halt the loss of lives during holiday?

We believe the authorities are either caught napping or some are lining their pockets.

Despite assurances from authorities that unroadworthy vehicles will not pass through roadblocks, many of those motor vehicles are still on our roads.

There are some unroadworthy vehicles on our roads that negotiate their ways at police checkpoints with ease.

Why? It is because they have oiled the police officers and have carte blanche to ply on the country's roads.

The more roadblocks during the festive season, the more some unscrupulous police officers fatten their wallets.

Police Commissioner-General Godwin Tandabantu Matanga said this week that he has directed all Officers Commanding Police Provinces to ensure that all defective or unroadworthy vehicles are impounded for the safety of travellers.

"In this vein, no pirate taxis will be allowed to pass through police checkpoints," he said in a statement on Thursday.

The police chief said there was no room for "bad apples" in the Zimbabwe Republic Police as it enforce the law "without fear or favour", urging the public to engage in lawful business activities and effectively contribute towards the maintenance of law and order during this holiday.

This is a bold declaration which must be followed to the letter. Police officers have not stopped extorting money from unroadworthy vehicle drivers or those dropping off passengers at undesignated drop-off points.

They know the threats are empty and have been made since time immemorial. Until the police get tough on errant members of the force, only then can we entertain chances of a reduction in corrupt practices on the country's roads.

We urge authorities to be tough on drivers that violate road rules, which will go a long way in reducing the rate of accidents.

Tough legislation will act as a deterrent measure to would-be violators of road rules.

Our roads have become highways of death, with statistics showing that 41 per 100 000 people are dying in road traffic accidents yearly, according to the World of Statistics.

Zimbabwe is only better than the Dominican Republic, which tops the list of shame with 65 deaths per 100 000 people.

Data from the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency showed a 3% increase in road traffic accidents, with 514 road crash deaths in 12 981 accidents reported during the second quarter of the year up from the previous quarter.

The festive season is a time for merrymaking, and we should not allow road traffic accidents to spoil the mood. It is everyone's responsibility to reduce the rate of road traffic accidents on the country's roads. Passengers have a right to report drivers that violate road rules.