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Joshua Muswere

Herald Correspondent

THE Zimbabwe Newspapers Group, in collaboration with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and other stakeholders, yesterday held a Safe Driving Conference in Harare.

The conference sought to address the issue of increased road accidents, instill a sense of responsibility among the country’s road users and to emphasise the need for self-introspection by urging the public to complement Government efforts in ensuring road safety.

Officially opening the Conference, the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Kazembe Kazembe, said it was the people’s collective responsibility to ensure road safety.

“According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, 94 percent of all road accidents are due to human error while others can be attributed to poor road infrastructure and other contributory efforts. However in our case, the Second Republic under the leadership of President Mnangagwa has been spearheading infrastructure development with one of the milestone developments being road construction.

“This is evidenced by the road dualisation, rehabilitation and upgrading processes that have taken place including the Harare-Beitbridge road, Harare-Chirundu, Bulawayo-Victoria Falls and the dualisation of Harare-Mazowe road. It is therefore our collective responsibility as the citizenry of Zimbabwe to ensure that our roads are safe for everyone,” he said.

  Speaking at the same occasion, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe managing director, Mr Munesu Munodawafa, lamented the impact of reckless, negligent and careless driving to the economic growth and the national fiscus.

“People do not appreciate the nature of the problem in relation to the economic impacts that these road accidents inflict on the country’s economy. We have seen a trend where there is now improved road networks and efficiency but road carnage continues to increase because all of a sudden people are speeding and reckless,” he said.