HARARE – A shocking average of five people die on Zimbabwean roads everyday through road traffic accidents which happen every 15 minutes, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has revealed.
Appearing before parliament’s portfolio committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer, Munesu Munodawafa also said that on average, 38 people are injured in accidents daily.
According to statistics, the highest number of casualties are aged between 25 and 45 years.
Apart from their steep cost to human life, road accidents have also come at a financial to the nation which spends US$406 million worth of dollars annually, Munodawafa said.
World statistics rank Zimbabwe as one of the globe’s two countries with the most unsafe road networks.
According to the World of Statistics released in 2023, 41 per every 100 000 people die of road traffic injuries in Zimbabwe.
The statistics shared under the category mortality caused by road traffic injury place the Dominican Republic on top with 65 in a list of 31 countries where Sweden has the least number with two.
Road traffic accidents killed 92 people and injured 460 others during the period of December 15 to 27 in Zimbabwe last year.
According to police, most of the accidents occurred on the country’s highways as a result of speeding, inattention, overtaking errors, overloading, misjudgment, following too closely and recklessness on the part of drivers.
