HARARE – Police have raised concern over a rise in fatal road traffic accidents occurring at night across the country, warning that poor visibility and animals straying onto roads are contributing to the carnage.
Police cautioned that the danger is worsened by “animals such as cattle, donkeys and others which are criss-crossing the roads and posing serious danger to motorists.”
Police said some farmers are “contributing to the accidents by driving cattle through the roads or leaving them to graze on road verges leading to road traffic accidents.”
In a statement on Friday, national police spokesman Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police “totally discourage Zimbabweans from travelling or driving at night,” urging families, football teams, individual drivers and institutions to “plan journeys to curtail road carnage.”
Farmers, Nyathi said in a statement on Friday, are “urged to be safety conscious and secure cattle, donkeys and other animals” to prevent them from “grossly interfering with traffic movements on the roads.”
Police added that they would “intensify engagements with traditional leaders, farmers and other stakeholders to ensure that animals do not travel or are driven onto the roads recklessly.”
The warning came following the deaths of four top Highlanders Football Club officials in a night-time crash along the Harare-Bulawayo Road near Mbembesi, at the 380 kilometre peg, at around 7.30PM on Thursday.
Club chairman Kenneth Mhlope, 70, vice chairman Sifiso Siziba, 55, treasurer Nkani Khoza, 66, and supporter Mbalenhle Sibanda, 27, all died after their vehicle hit a cow and then collided head-on with a bus.
Police meanwhile reiterated that members of the public “should not interfere with road traffic accident scenes as they risk facing criminal charges of defeating or obstructing the course of justice,” Nyathi said, adding that this “also applies to the release of accident victim names while police are still attending the scene with close relatives and family members yet to be formally informed or advised of the sad situations.”
Police said they are “investigating certain individuals who are approaching the Mbembesi accident scene and soliciting for biased and half-backed information to suit a particular narrative which compromises official police investigations.”
The ZRP appealed to Zimbabweans to “genuinely assist road traffic accident victims and police officers to manage scenes and avoid recording horrific images just for the sake of feeding social media platforms and in the process exaggerate what has actually transpired.”
