2022 festive period bloodier
Peter Moyo
92 people have died from accidents recorded from the period December 15 to 26, amounting to 20 more fatalities than the same period last year, police have revealed.
Despite having less in terms of the total number of accidents, the number number of people killed this year are more than those who perished during the same period last year.
The period covers the Unity Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day holidays.
There were 341 more road traffic accidents in 2021 than in 2022 during the 12 day period yet 2022 proved gorier by recording 69 fatal accidents. In comparison, there were 62 such fatal accidents last year.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) festive season accident statistics also indicate that 2021 had a worse return than this year in the category of people who sustained injuries due to accidents.
The police did not hold back as they laid blame squarely on motorists for misjudgement, recklessness and failure to adhere to road rules.
“Most of the road traffic accidents occurred on highways as a result of speeding, overtaking errors, inattention, misjudgement, following too close and recklessness on the part of drivers, who in most of the accidents recorded were trying to overtake in situations which were not safe to do so, encroached onto the lane of oncoming traffic, straddled the centre lane, showed clear poor observation and control of the vehicles resulting in some hitting pedestrians who were walking on the side of the roads or standing at bus stops,” said the Police in a damning statement.
The police were however, quick to exonerate the public service system, stating that, “No major road accident involving public service vehicles has been recorded so far. However, the Police is concerned with the number of private vehicles involved in accidents during this holiday. Some of them would be overloaded while others are being used for purposes which are clearly not suitable for such use,”
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police urges drivers to be cautious and promote road safety on the roads as the holiday continues. There is no need for one to be over-excited or reckless on the roads. The Police will continue with the current deployment level on the roads and communities till the 15th of January 2023.”
So far, ZRP says it has impounded 2 159 vehicles for various defects.
Road traffic accidents characteristically soar during the festive period as more people travel around the country.
