Civil Protection department adds voice to calls for safe driving during festive holidays

Harare (New Ziana) -The Department of Civil Protection has added its voice to calls for drivers to be cautious while driving during the festive holidays to reduce road carnage.

The festive holidays are characterized by an increase in human and vehicular traffic movements as people take a break from business and travel to different places, mostly the rural areas and holiday resorts to celebrate with friends and relatives.

Unfortunately, some people get carried away by the exccitement of the holidays to drink to excesss and end up engaging in dangerous behaviour including driving under the influence and speeding, resulting in accidents that claim many innocent lives.

DCP chief director Nathan Nkomo told New Ziana that the country usually records some of the most horrific traffic accidents during the festive period hence the need for drivers to exercise caution.

“We have started witnessing gruesome road traffic accidents. We wish that drivers can be really cautious on the roads and ensure that we reduce carnage on the roads,” he said.

According to the police, most of the traffic accidents that are recorded on the country’s roads are a result of human error and coud be avoided.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said most of the fatal accidents recorded so far were caused by negligent drivers.

“Most of those accidents are due to overtaking errors, issues of encroaching into oncoming traffic leading to collisions and also coupled with speeding.

“Drivers must be safety conscious. All other activities can be done but the drivers must contribute towards safety on the road,” he said.

In his 2022 festive season statement last week, Commissioner General of Police Godwin Matanga urged drivers to “be exemplary on the roads and promote road safety at all times.

“Drivers should not speed or overload vehicles with passengers or goods. The mixing of goods and passengers will not be tolerated by the police during this holiday as this contributes to road traffic accidents,” he said.

More than 20 people have died in separate road traffic accidents so far this festive season.

New Ziana