If there is anything that
incenses me, it is the Zanu PF government’s lack of sensitivity to the growing
and unwarranted road carnage in our country. Does the Zanu PF government really
care about its people and their safety on our roads, which have become death traps?
Surely something has got to give.
I appreciate accidents happen everywhere
in the world, but we cannot have people’s lives wasted as if they are rats
considering the rate at which accidents are happening in our country. The
carnage on our roads signals the ineptitude of crooks running our country, particularly
The Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development.
The man at the helm of The
Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development is a tried
and tested persistent failure, and one wonders why he is still in government.
Accidents happening on our roads should raise alarm and allow for serious
investigations into these unnecessary road traffic deaths. There must be full
investigations whose outcome must lead to the implementation of new road
enforcement laws targeted at reducing road accidents. The safety of our people
on the roads is paramount and government’s responsibility.
Unsurprisingly, there have been
countless accidents this year alone, but it seems no one is doing anything
about it. All what I have heard of The Ministry of Transport, Communication and
Infrastructural Development is the talk of Tollgates. It does not surprise me,
because the Zanu PF government and the minister of Transport stand to benefit
from the revenues collected from these tollgates. It is all about nothing but
lining their pockets and funding the Zanu PF institution.
I have no problems with
tollgates, provided the revenues collected are channelled through to the
rehabilitation of our roads and enforcing rules that promote road safety. Tollgates
are everywhere in the world, and a good example is just next door in South
Africa. They have a world class road network system, suffice to say that they
still have accidents happening, but it could have been worse had their roads
been as dilapidated as they are in Zimbabwe.
The most contributing factors to
the road accidents in Zimbabwe today are human error due to inexperienced
drivers and lack of objective road enforcement laws. The ZRP Traffic section is
not doing its proper job, save for gross incompetence and corruption. One would
thought that because of the overwhelming presents of traffic officers on the
road, accidents would be minimal, but alas accidents are even increasing on
daily basis. The whole ZRP department needs to be revised, even if it means
people losing their jobs, and in any case they haven’t got any job to do, so
why should they stay.
As Renewal Team, I suggest that,
and in fact, if we are elected into government in 2018 we will:
- Review the driver licencing programme, targeting inexperienced drivers and drivers who are experienced but not fit to drive, due to, for instance, recklessness.
- Strictly enforcing motorists, especially public transport to adhere to stipulated vehicle carrying capacity.
- Reducing speeds at problematic junctions or locations (e.g. through the use of solar panel vehicle activated signs or rough road surfaces)
- Introduce driving bans and license endorsement for driving offenders.
- Driver education programmes aim to increase the safety behaviours of drivers and reduce driver errors. Programmes may be provided one-to-one, within a group, or in the form of written materials (e.g. an information manual). They can be targeted at specialist groups such as those with a higher risk of accidents (e.g. those experiencing high numbers of crashes or offences), or novice drivers.
- Above all, create a special elite branch or division for policing all the traffic police officers, without fear or favour. PISI and the CID division are useless, they are good at terrorising the opposition parties working in cohort with CIO thugs.
Yours truly MJ
