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Tatenda Chinoda
In defensive driving, we maintain that a road traffic collision (accident) is a total loss unless something useful can be learnt from it.
When an accident has happened, no matter how serious or minor, we have to draw lesson from it.
It is important to figure out how it could have been avoided. This must be done at individual, family and company level.
Otherwise, we continue making the same errors and of course, continue to perish on our roads.

It is a very effective driving teaching tool to have detailed reports of any traffic mishaps that would have happened.
Qualified persons should assess the report on the accident and the collision situation to establish all the facts about the accident and not rely on whims or opinions.

The objective of this review is not to find out which driver was at fault but to help the drivers involved in the accident and other drivers to avoid similar collisions in future.

In this article, let me focus on one of the worst road crashes to ever happen on Zimbabwe roads, the Regina Coeli Bus Disaster.
The mere mention of this disaster evokes deep sorrow and heart — renting memories of the 83 pupils, 5 teachers and the bus driver who perished on August 3, 1991 at around 10:40pm. Below are some of the facts of the fatal crash from which we can derive some lessons.
According to the The Herald article of August 5, 1991, one of the survivors, a student teacher, gave the following points:

The driver of the bus was speeding.
The sports master (who unfortunately died in the crash) warned the driver to reduce speed more than three times.
As they approached Troutbeck, some of the schoolchildren asked the driver to stop for them to disembark and walk the remaining distance of about 20 kilometres.

The bus departed Rusape at around 6pm.
The crash occurred at around 10:40pm.
The drive shaft of the bus was tied with wire.

One of the back tyres of the bus had a puncture about a kilometre before the scene of the crash but the driver continued as if nothing had happened.

The bus careered for about 50 metres to the left before it hit the side of a high cliff, forcing the entire roof to be blown away.
In an interview, the bus operator claimed that the company had reliable information that the driver had been drinking alcohol together with school teachers before the tragedy.

In his condolence message, President Mugabe retorted that road users “must know that haste and recklessness only bring about more carnage”.

From the points above, we can deduce that a combination of negligence, speeding, drunkenness on the part of the driver and night driving might have contributed to this horror crash.

The owner of the bus that was involved in this crash also urged passengers to “overpower and confiscate the keys” from drivers whom they believe would be endangering their lives. Indeed, passengers need to be united in voicing their right to be driven safely and arrive alive.

Maybe the sports master could have put his foot down and ordered the driver to stop the bus and apply for an alternative sober driver.
The school had hired this bus so the school authorities in the bus should have dictated the safety standards they preferred.

Also implied in this crash situation is the issue of overloading. We are told that 89 passengers lost their lives while about 11 others were injured.

This means the bus had 100 passengers. I am not too sure about the carrying capacity of most public service buses are is 75 passengers. If this was such a bus, then it had 25 extra passengers. What was and is still traumatising about the crash is that we lost mostly young boys and girls, a human resource much needed for the country’s economic development.

Moreso, the success of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) also hinges on accelerated reduction of deaths, injuries and property damage due to road traffic accidents.

Almost 23 years after the disaster overloading, night driving, speeding, drunk driving and negligence still remain the major contributory factors to road disasters today.

The hair — pin bends on the Nyanga road still continue to be black spots. The question is are we learning something from these crashes?

The writer, Tatenda Chinoda is a Traffic Safety Officer — Marketing and seasoned defensive driving instructor. He can be contacted on [email protected]/ [email protected]; cell: 0772 966 075 or phone 04 – 751208.