Puma partners police in road safety campaigns

PUMA Energies has partnered the police and the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) in the Be Road Safe Africa campaign to educate schoolchildren on road safety measures.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign on Wednesday, Puma managing director Donatien Kodog said they were committed to seeing a decline in road traffic accidents.

“We want them (children) to understand safety principles breaching a crucial awareness gap within the community. We believe that every child should get safely to school and back,” Kodog said.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi criticised motorists for disregarding traffic rules such as pedestrian crossings, resulting in loss of life.

“Our zebra crossings are dilapidated and need to be revamped and we have agreed with (TSCZ managing director) Munesu Munodawafa

that when children go to school in the morning, most pedestrian crossings in the country will be monitored and have people who will assist them in crossing the roads,” Nyathi said.

“Grades 1, 2 and 3 after school are assisted to cross the roads. But on the other hand, we are worried about drivers who behave as if there is a war on the road.”

Munodawafa said the partnership with Puma complemented another running programme on road safety titled Catch Them Young targeting learners.

“This launch is also to complement our programme that we are doing as Traffic Safety Council Zimbabwe called ‘Catch Them

Young’ where we are targeting schoolchildren from primary, secondary to tertiary to teach them road safety awareness because you also realise that road safety is not just about drivers only at times a good number of accidents are caused by pedestrians or cyclist so to us road safety is everyone’s business,” he said.