The Sunday Mail
Tafadzwa Kadani
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” reads the Bible in the book of Proverbs 22 verse 6.
Children are the future and thus they need to be protected.
Of late, the media has been awash with reports of children involved in accidents. Some have been seriously injured while some have lost their lives during such unfortunate cases.
Is this a result of the minors’ or the motorists’ ignorance?
This is a great cause of concern, the country cannot afford to have more of such incidents. The Passengers Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) President, Mr George Goliati said that prioritizing child traffic safety education will reduce the number of accidents.
“Traffic safety education is very necessary for minors, it is very difficult to train an older person, thus it will be better to catch them while they are still young,” he said.
“We as the PAZ have seen this as an area of concern and thus we have come up with various initiatives to create a culture of responsible driving as well as responsible pedestrians,” added Mr Goliati. PAZ is engaging schools in a bid to educate children on traffic rules.
Mr Goliati also emphasised that the responsible authorities must act against what the “new crop of bad drivers”.
“These drivers take toxic substances such as the famous cough syrup broncleer. This may be one of the leading causes of accidents,”he lamented.
The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) Director for Operations, Research and Marketing, Mr Proctor Utete said he is imploring the responsible authorities to maintain the existing infrastructure so as to avoid accidents.
“I implore the responsible authorities to maintain the current zebra crossing areas such that they are visible enough for both motorists and pedestrians,” said Mr Utete.
He also said police officers deployed to help in traffic regulation at crossing points should always be availed consistently so as to reinforce children’s safety.
Currently, the TSCZ has a traffic training centre in Harare where children are educated on road safety.
The facility is equipped with all the necessary equipment to translate the real road set-up.
“The centre is equipped with traffic lights, carriageway marks and zebra-crossings to make it easy for the children to learn how to use the road in real life situations,” Mr Utete explained.
“Traffic safety education needs to be a continuous exercise that will cultivate a good road use culture. When the children grow up, they will become responsible citizens,” he added.
Mr Utete said the TSCZ also visit schools to teach the children about traffic safety. The Government, in conjunction with other organisations, has also been educating children on traffic safety.
