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Yoliswa Dube
More than three weeks after surviving the horror crash that claimed 30 lives on March 3 along the Gweru-Harare Highway, Patricia Chihwayi of Bulawayo is still traumatised.

The horrific accident still sends shudders down her spine as it keeps replaying in her mind like a scary video.

“It’s like it happened yesterday. I saw everything happening before my eyes,” she says. “I didn’t think I would survive. All the people who were around me died.”

It was on a Thursday afternoon – at around 1.30PM at the 232km peg near Kwekwe River – when the fatal crash occurred.

A Harare-bound Pfochez bus coming from Bulawayo burst a right front tyre before sideswiping a Mercedes Benz Sprinter along the Gweru-Harare Road.

Chihwayi was seated in the front seat, next to the bus conductor. She still cannot believe that she escaped with only minor injuries when everyone around her perished in the accident.

She says after the tyre burst, the driver of the bus panicked and let go of the steering wheel before ducking for cover, surrendering his life and that of the passengers to fate.

Chihwayi, who was coming from Bulawayo, said when the tyre burst, the bus swerved to the right and encroached into the right lane where it dented two cars before side-swiping a commuter omnibus, a Mercedes Benz Sprinter, which was travelling in the opposite direction.

“The driver gave up hope and let go of the steering wheel before he ducked for cover. After the impact, the upper part of his body was thrown out of the moving bus,” said a visibly distraught Chihwayi.

The accident, which also claimed the lives of minors, was declared a national disaster. It came hot on the heels of another which killed seven people in a head-on collision about 20km from Kwekwe along the Kwekwe-Gweru highway.

Most of the surviving victims of the bus crash are still battling to recover from their traumatic experience. They believe the hand of God intervened to save them from the jaws of death.

To Gloria Chimuramba, another survivor who boarded the bus in Gweru, it is probably the death of the driver that hurts the most.

She was seated behind the driver sharing groundnuts with him before the fatal crash occurred.

“It’s really hard to comprehend how someone I was talking to was killed in such a violent manner. I was sitting right behind the driver sharing groundnuts with him. I’m still failing to come to terms with the accident. I still have visual images of the accident and it will probably take a while for me to get over it,” said Chimuramba.

Post-accident trauma and stress leave an indelible mark. Children lose parents and families their breadwinners in road mishaps.

Yearly, scores of lives are lost on the country’s roads in accidents that experts believe can be avoided.

According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, most road accidents are as a result of human error.

Speeding, misjudgment, overtaking error, failure to give way, following too close, reversing errors, negligent pedestrians or cyclists and fatigue are some of the human mistakes which can cause fatalities.

Human error alone – which is quite preventable – contributed 93,4 percent to the cause of last year’s festive season road traffic accidents.

Mathew Boniface, one of the only two survivors from the Mercedes Benz Sprinter said the driver of the Sprinter under-estimated the danger posed by the bus as he saw it swerving from a distance and encroaching into his lane but still maintained his speed.

Boniface said the accident could have been avoided had the driver of the Mercedes Benz Sprinter stopped upon realising that the driver of the bus had lost control.

“Only two people from the Sprinter survived the accident – the person who was sitting next to me and yours truly. We were thrown out of the sprinter soon after impact. We could tell from a distance that the driver of the bus had lost control but the driver of the Sprinter kept on moving despite the fact that two other vehicles in front of us were almost hit by the bus,” he said.

Road traffic accidents affect the country’s economic growth as they continue to rob the country of skilled personnel, among other key groups.

Injuries sustained take an enormous toll on individuals and communities as well as on national economies.

Road authorities who include the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, the Vehicle Inspection Department and the police always hold awareness campaigns to coach members of the public on the importance of respecting road regulations and using roadworthy vehicles.

“We continue to do our usual awareness campaigns in an effort to keep our roads safe,” said Bulawayo police spokesperson, Inspector Precious Simango.

She said motorists are encouraged to exercise caution on the roads to avoid the unnecessary loss of lives.

“Ensuring that our roads are safe requires unity among the various stakeholders involved. As police, we’ll always be on the lookout for errant drivers. We’ll continue to erect road blocks to help curb accidents. We’ll also continue to work in partnership with organisations such as the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe to bring sanity to our roads,” said Inspector Simango.

According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, the causes and risk factors associated with road traffic accidents include non-use of safety belts and child restraints, driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs and emotions, non-use of helmets, inappropriate and excessive speed, night driving, sheer disregard of road traffic rules and regulations, tyre bursts, negligence, fatigue, lack of safe infrastructure, use of mobile phones, stray animals and negligent pedestrians.

Traffic safety officer, Tatenda Chinoda, said the road has become the greatest silent killer of our time.

“It killed yesterday, it’s killing today and it shall kill tomorrow unless we mount accelerated counteraction yesterday. What defeats common sense is that most of these road crashes are as a result of human error. Driver errors are clearly the major cause of road traffic crashes. About five people die every day on our roads in Zimbabwe and 38 others are injured daily,” said Chinoda.

Economically disadvantaged families are hardest hit by both direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost wages that result from these injuries, Chinoda said.

“At national level, road traffic injuries result in considerable financial costs, particularly to developing economies like that of Zimbabwe. It should be underscored that road traffic injuries are largely preventable and that the evidence base for effective interventions is extensive. It’s clear that night driving is far more dangerous than day-time driving,” he said.

Statistics reveal that human error is enemy number one in the fight against road carnage in Zimbabwe, Chinoda said.

“The road condition can’t change overnight but the human condition can be changed straight away for the better. Road safety must be everyone’s responsibility, play your part.”

*Additional writing by Munyaradzi Musiiwa