Zimpapers Logo

Nine people died in road traffic accidents on Christmas Day this year compared to 16 that were killed on the same day last year. National police spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi attributed the drastic reduction in fatalities to good driving by motorists.

He said 89 accidents were recorded on Christmas Day compared to 96 recorded on the same day last year. He said on the day only six fatal accidents were recorded compared to 16 last year. Chief Supt Nyathi said 42 people were injured on Christmas Day this year compared to 45 last year.

He said motorists were taking heed of the ongoing police and the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ)’s traffic safety awareness campaigns hence the reduction in fatalities and the number of accidents.

Chief Supt Nyathi, however, said there were a few rogue drivers that continue to flout traffic rules and regulations thereby endangering the lives of other motorists and passengers.

An average of 1 700 people are killed on Zimbabwe’s roads annually while 30 000 others are injured. The statistics are very frightening but what is encouraging is that this year’s Christmas Day recorded a drastic drop in fatalities as well as the number of accidents.

We want at this juncture to commend both the police and TSCZ for their massive road traffic safety awareness campaigns using various media platforms.

We also want to say thumbs up to motorists for behaving well on our highways despite the reduced police roadblocks this festive season. The issue of accidents victims failing to pay medical bills and relatives struggling to bury their loved ones killed in road traffic accidents however remains a serious cause for concern.

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has proposed the establishment of a fund to assist accident victims and their families. We are appealing to Government to seriously consider establishing this fund which will go a long way in assisting the accident victims and their families.

The fund to be known as the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, is in line with the United Nations Decade of Road Safety action plan. Zimbabwe is one of the few Sadc countries yet to establish such a fund.  The Transport Ministry said there were a lot of challenges that arise in the post-crash phase hence it was proposing the establishment of the fund.

It said the challenges include delays in securing rescue ambulance services and the issue of medical bills. The Ministry said most people involved in accidents had no medical insurance and as such there was some hesitation by emergency rescue service providers and the medical fraternity to respond to accidents as fast as they should.

The ministry said if payment for such services is guaranteed, the service providers will respond fast to accidents and save many lives. The fund apart from paying for such services, would assist families of accident victims. Most of the people being killed in road accidents are breadwinners and their families need to be assisted financially. There are many cases of people injured in accidents who have died after failing to raise money to undergo specialist treatment.

Many motorists will be back on the road this weekend as they travel to either their rural homes or holiday destinations to celebrate New Year.

We want to once again urge the motorists to exercise extreme caution as they did on Christmas Day so that we further reduce the number of fatalities and accidents.