Zimpapers Logo

Columbus Mabika Herald Reporter

Motoring industry experts have called on the Government to enforce Statutory Instrument 129 of 2015 that compels passenger service vehicles, lorries, buses and haulage trucks to be fitted with speed limiting devices to reduce accidents.

The call comes after a spike in fatal road traffic accidents in recent times, with the latest being last week in which six Tynwald High School students perished while 34 teachers and students were hospitalised in the aftermath of an accident involving their school bus along Rusape-Nyanga road.

According to the police, the accident happened around 7pm when the bus veered off the road and overturned at the 75km peg along Rusape-Nyanga Road near Pine Tree Hotel.

Statutory Instrument 129 of 2015 (64) (2) states that: “No person shall drive on any road a passenger public service vehicle or a heavy vehicle with a net mass of 4 600kg or more, unless one of the following speed monitoring or speed limiting devices is fitted to the vehicle (a) a tachograph (b) a tacho-log (c) vehicle data recorder (d) fleet manager (e) co-driver (f) any other speed monitoring or speed limiting device which the Minister, after consultation with the Standards Association of Zimbabwe may publish in the Gazette.”

Mr Tendai Mujuru, an expert in speed limiting devices with Sytech Africa said life was vital hence, the need to preserve it.

He said once the law is enforced, it is projected accidents would be reduced by 60 percent.

“Just like in any society, human life and health are valued so highly that there is a special obligation to use our scientific abilities to bring the problem of highway traffic safety under control. There is no doubt that in the recent Tynwald High School bus accident, speed was also a factor given the severity of the crash, the injuries sustained by the victims and the fatality rate. Speed is a risk factor for road traffic deaths and injuries,” he said.

“This has been a long-overdue move. It is now time that the law that requires all public service vehicles to be fitted with the device be enforced. That can help save thousands of lives.”

Mr Mujuru said scientific research had shown that 90 percent of road traffic crashes are a result of human error due to speeding.

He called on the Government to extend the Statutory Instrument to private vehicles saying nations that have implemented speed limiting devices saw a reduction in road crashes, injuries and fatalities which is a major step towards zero death by 2050.

In an unrelated matter the Passenger Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) is noting with concern the spike of stray livestock along major highways posing a great risk to motor vehicle traffic carrying passengers.

“PAZ calls upon all livestock owners to make to be responsible animal owners by ensuring that their livestock is well secured,” reads a statement on their site.

PAZ says the problem of stray animals has been largely triggered by the vandalism of paddock fences that used to secure livestock in farms along highways.

PAZ thus calls for the authorities, particularly the Zimbabwe Republic Police and local councils to gear up efforts to ensure action around this concern while also increasing measures against violators including stiffer penalties and fines.