Harare-Byo highway tops in road fatalities
THE refurbished Harare-Bulawayo highway has accounted for highest number of fatal road accidents in the past year although it is the best in terms of navigability.
The stretch recorded 569 accidents, representing 44 percent of the 1 291 road fatalities that occurred across the country in 2016.
About 304 (23 percent) were recorded along the Beitbridge-Chirundu highway.
The Harare-Bindura and Harare-Murehwa roads contributed 128 and 97 cases, respectively.
The other 193 fatal accidents occurred on all the urban centres combined.
The statistics put to rest the notion that poor state of the roads are the major contributors to accidents.
Speaking during the Driver of the Year National Awards ceremony held in Mutare over the weekend, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Dr Joram Gumbo said drivers should be responsible on the road to reduce carnage.
He said the Government was committed to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety goal aimed at reducing road deaths by 50 percent by the year 2020.
Dr Gumbo said an average of five people were killed while approximately 38 were injured in road accidents daily.
“Government is committed to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety which seeks to reduce road deaths by 50 percent by the year 2020.
“Drivers must therefore complement Government efforts if holistic road safety is to be achieved.
“Driving excellence is what every driver, at any level, would want to achieve so as to minimise the chances of being involved in road traffic accidents,” said Dr Gumbo.
Sixty-five provincial winners in different categories gathered in the Manicaland capital for the national competition.
The competition seeks to improve “roadcraft” among drivers.
Dr Gumbo said the purpose of the competition was to promote good and responsible drivers.
He said rewarding those who had excelled would go a long way in achieving this goal.
“There is no doubt that the purpose of this competition in promoting good and responsible driving goes a long way in reducing the carnage on the roads.
“Excellence in driving is gained through the acquisition of necessary road driving schools. These skills are further reinforced through competitions like the one we witnessed here in Mutare,” he said.
Minister of State for Manicaland Province Honourable Cde Mandi Chimene and Chikanga-Dangamvura constituency Legislator Honourable Esau Mupfumi were some of the delegates who graced the ceremony.