By 
By The Editor
The Acting Director of Operations for the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe Mr Ernest Muchena lambasted those that are not following the road traffic laws of the land saying they endanger the innocent and progress in our country.
Speaking on a live interview with TechMag Tv the unusually tall towering figure bellowed that they work hand in glove with the Zimbabwe Republic Police in ensuring road safety is the emerging frontier to sustainable transport systems in our developing Zimbabwe.
Our national road safety is guided by the systems approach which is anchored on partnership, collaboration and co-ordination no wonder Mr Muchena’s emphasis on the police, the commuters and the public together with a secure transport system.
Asked on why generally, the volume of traffic in Africa is far below that of developed countries and yet Africa has the highest number of road carnage, Zimbabwe in particular not far behind, Mr Muchena said it is regrettable.
In Africa, about 650 people die due to road accidents daily, while an average of five people are killed and 38 others are injured in Zimbabwe every day. Increased road carnage is, therefore, a common challenge in developing countries.
Most of these road accidents, however, are preventable and that is why there is hope they can be reduced. Indeed, road accidents occur each year, some of which end up being declared national disasters. Some road disasters during the past two years include the head-on collision of two buses at the 166-kilometre peg along the Harare-Mutare highway and the Ngezi Bridge road disaster, just to mention a few.About 47 people were killed while several others were injured during the 166-km peg road disaster at the end of 2018, and 20 people also lost their lives during the Ngezi Bridge road disaster in June 2019.
The host went on to indicate what the TSCZ is doing if on average, road traffic deaths, injuries and property damage result in loss of 3 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).Again Mr Muchena stated that as TSCZ it was part of their mandate to ensure such a loss never recurs again hence they were on the ground running with public awareness campaigns to try and curb this. Such a loss is unacceptable since it militates against the attainment of our nation’s Vision 2030 which instead becomes Divison 2030 if there is no unity in the fight for road safety.
The presenter asked the Council Director on why their national target, as guided by the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, is to reduce road traffic deaths by 50 percent or less instead of by 100 % to which Muchena retorted
”it is not feasible to reduce any road accident by 100% because mistakes happen daily worldwide if i just get outside and reverse my car anything can happen….. This target(of 50%) is realistic and achievable especially if all stakeholders involved in ensuring road safety work as a team.”
The TechnoMag Editor looked in the eye of the Acting Director Operations TSCZ and asked categorically ”the pain, suffering and economic loss experienced by affected individuals and families as a result of accidents is unbearable and goes beyond the national purse.If my brother who is the breadwinner dies due to road unworthiness something that could have been avoided it means government and TSCZ have transferred that burden to my brothers family yet they are responsible for road unworthyiness causing carnage?” To which Muchena responded that
”…indeed road traffic injuries place a heavy burden, not only on the national economy, but also on household finances.” Many families are driven deep into poverty by the loss of breadwinners and the added burden of caring for members disabled by road traffic injuries. The dependency burden for close relatives also increases when their brothers or sisters, who were breadwinners, are lost due to road accidents.
No nation, however well-endowed with natural resources, can long endure the loss of its labour force. What is disheartening is that more than 90 percent of these road crashes are caused by human error.
Muchena said ”Speeding, overtaking errors, driving under the influence of alcohol, fatigue and disregard for road traffic regulations are the major causes of road traffic fatalities. We must all polish our attitudes and always be road safety conscious to reduce these preventable accidents.”
TSCZ still has a long way to massive awareness campaigns on the need to ensure road safety in Zimbabwe.
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