Road accidents: A menace in need of urgent action

By Simbarashe Msasanuri
The cloud of death continues to hang over the country’s roads, plunging the nation into mourning as more innocent lives are perishing unabated despite efforts to curb the anomaly. This week alone and on Monday to be specific, more than 26 people were reportedly killed in several accidents that occurred throughout the country.
Thirteen people out of 14 who were travelling in a Toyota Noah died on the spot when their vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a haulage truck at Isuna Village along the Singida-Dodoma highway.
A sombre mood gripped the village as a mangled shell of the vehicle, human flesh and various luggage were strewn all over at the accident scene. The area was stinking of death and covered bodies of the victims could be seen lying all over the place, some of them visibly mutilated.
According to Singida Regional Police Commander, Mr Geofrey Kamwela, the ill- fated Noah was travelling from Singida while the truck, which carried fresh fish, was on its way to Dar es Salaam from Mwanza.
To make matters worse, the driver of the truck and his assistant vanished from the scene after the accident that is blamed on speeding and reckless driving.
As if that was not enough, another accident claimed 13 people, injuring 25 after an Al Hamdullilah bus travelling from Dar es Salaam to Mtwara overturned after the driver failed to control the vehicle. Again, the accident is blamed on speeding and recklessness.
On the same day, six vehicles were involved in an accident in Mbeya, when a truck rammed onto stationery vehicles. Luckily no one was reportedly killed in the accident. These are just but some of the accidents that gripped the country that day with many others going unreported.
The incidents saw President Jakaya Kikwete sending condolence messages to the Singida Regional Commissioner, Mr Parseko Kone, on the demise of 13 people including an infant.
The time has come, and the time is now when Tanzanians should join hands and say enough is enough on our roads. The situation is unacceptable as dozens of lives continue being lost on our roads. In fact, our major highways have been turned into killing grounds where upcountry bound buses and vehicles continuously claim lives of our beloved ones.
 What pains most is that most of these accidents are attributed to human error. Despite innocent people continuing to perish like poisoned cockroaches on our roads, it is surprising that drivers carry on dicing with death, putting the lives of their passengers at risk.  Speeding has been blamed as one of the common causes of these accidents and our drivers continue being defiant despite the presence of sign posts and notices along the highways that remind them that speed kills.
Though it might remain true that the distances these drivers have to cover per day are long, that is no excuse for speeding as the common saying that “It is better to be late than to be the late,” comes in handy.
The government should come up with a permanent solution to this problem and bus drivers should be compounded to retrain after a certain given period and in doing so, the message of safe driving should be emphasized. This is so because most drivers have a notion that driving is synonymous with speeding.
This has seen some bus operators putting stickers on their buses that encourage speeding or to show how their buses fly. “Flying Bird”, “King of the Road” and “Shaver” just but to mention a few, are some of the stickers on some buses meant to show off their capabilities. It is against this background that some buses are notorious for speeding in areas they operate. But, the end result is obvious and painful.
 It is high time such stickers or any message that encourages speeding be removed from buses, and any other vehicle be it private or commercial, as they encourage drivers to live up to their names.
It seems we never learn from our mistakes. We continue to come across overloaded buses and vehicles that will be speeding despite a number of fatal accidents having occurred on the roads.
 Just like HIV/AIDS, many people believe that road accidents don't affect them in any way until they become victims or after they lose their loved ones. The fact that you have never been involved in accident for the past 40 years or so you have been on this earth, while you commute daily to and from work, does not mean that you are immune to it.
 This is the same attitude our drivers adopt. They think that if they have been driving buses for the past 10 or so years, and sometimes driving overloaded buses and at the same time speeding and getting away with it, then they can deliberately ignore road regulations in the name of experience.
 This in most cases has seen people dying on our roads because days are not the same and when a mishap happens it will be too late as some passengers lose their lives while others are injured.
 Bus operators should be compelled to use strict timetables to avoid delays that will force them to speed. Failure to adhere to timetables should come with deterrent penalties. Above all, wananchi should play a pivotal role in making sure that drivers don't dice with their lives. The general public should be empowered to the extent of commanding the driver to stop the bus or even a private vehicle and have another driver take over.
 For how long shall we continue helplessly watching as our beloved ones perish on our roads? Life is precious to an extent that we do not have second chances of resurrecting soon after death, so let's preserve it. Just as an old age says it's better to be late than to be the late. Let's drive safely to arrive alive.
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