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Victor Maphosa in CHIVHU

Zimbabwe today joined the rest of the world in commemorating the World Remembrance Day for Victims of Road Traffic Accidents, with calls for every road user to prevent road traffic accidents and save lives.

The United Nations set this day aside as a global event to remember millions who have been maimed, killed and seriously injured due to road traffic accidents.

Today’s event was attended by Government officials, the police and traditional leaders, among others.

In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy Minister Joshua Sacco, Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Felix Mhona said the day is important as it gives them a platform to advocate for safe usage of roads.

He said the number of people dying in road traffic accidents in Zimbabwe is unacceptable.

“This year alone, an estimated 1.3 million people have died in car crashes worldwide, and a host of other millions were injured on the world’s roads. In Zimbabwe, like most other developing countries, the rate of road crashes is still unacceptably too high. In our case, we experience a traffic collision every 15 minutes; an average of 38 people are injured per day; and on average 5 deaths are recorded per day. Road traffic accidents are a real pandemic which is yet to be acknowledged as such. On this day, our thoughts therefore go out to the families whose loved ones began their day like any other, never to return home. Fellow Zimbabweans, these figures are just too high, and collectively, we must do something to reverse the situation.

“The tragedy associated with the above statistics becomes amplified when one considers that we are mainly losing our young people aged between 25 and 45 years old to road crashes. As you will agree, this is also the most productive age of any society hence the impact goes beyond the numbers. Today I call upon us to remember that these are not just statistics, they are our children, our brothers and sisters, in some cases sole breadwinners who are losing life or limb,” he said.