HARARE,
Zimbabwe
(AP)
—
When
Tafara
Muvhevhi,
a Zimbabwean driving
instructor,
began
work
16
years
ago,
his
job
was
simple:
teach
the
highway
code
and
prepare
learners
to
ace
their
driving
test.
Today,
his
priorities
have
changed.
His
main
concern
is
no
longer
just
the
exam,
but
whether
his
students
will
survive
some
of
the
world’s
deadliest
roads.
This
is
vital
in
a
country
where
road
crashes
rank
among
the
top
killers,
according
to
the
national
statistics
agency,
and
road
accident
fatality
rates
are
among
the
continent’s
worst.
In
Zimbabwe, a
crash
hits
every
15
minutes
and
five
die
and
38
are
injured
each
day,
according
to
the
country’s
traffic
safety
agency.
“Back
then
we
were
teaching
by
the
book,
it
was
all
by
the
book,”
Muvhevhi
said
while
coaching
his
latest
student
through
parallel
parking
and
smooth
reversing
into
spaces
marked
by
blue
drums
on
a
dusty
and
worn-out
tarmac
training
ground
on
the
outskirts
of
the
capital,
Harare.
Once
known
for
orderly
traffic
and
well-kept
roads,
Zimbabwe’s
road
safety
steadily
has
deteriorated
since
the
2000s,
degenerating
into
traffic
chaos
in
the
2010s
as
economic
decline
gutted
road
maintenance,
informal
public
transport
boomed
and
enforcement
weakened.
Despite
renewed
repairs
and
policing
efforts, dangerous
driving remains
deeply
entrenched.
“The
other
drivers
are
no
longer
patient
with
us,
they
hoot,
they
overtake
illegally,
putting
pressure
on
the
students
so
our
students
are
basically
trying
to
adjust,”
he
said,
before
his
student
navigated
through
streets
where
both
drivers
and
pedestrians
have
little
regard
for
rules.
For
the
student,
19-year-old
Winfrida
Chipashu,
a
university
accounting
major,
the
roads
of
Harare
are
more
intimidating
than
balancing
ledgers.
“You
cannot
really
compare
it
to
accounting
because
(in
accounting)
you
have
all
the
concepts,”
Chipashu
said.
“When
you
are
driving
in
the
jungle,
you
are
confused
by
other
people
who
are
not
following
the
road
rules.”
Roads
become
more
dangerous
The
southern
African
nation’s
roads
turn
most
lethal
during
festive
seasons
and
other
holidays,
but
peril
lurks
daily,
driven
largely
by
dangerous
driving
that
the
government
says
is
of
alarming
concern.
Zimbabwe
has
one
of
Africa’s
highest
road
accident
fatality
rates,
with
the World
Health
Organization estimating
nearly
30
deaths
per
100,000
people.
On
the
roads,
the
contradictions
are
stark.
Minibus
taxis
bearing
“safety
first”
signs
swerve
wildly
into
pedestrian
lanes
and
oncoming
traffic.
Fare
collectors
hang
off
doors
and
the
back
of
moving
vehicles
shouting
for
customers.
Sedans
jammed
with
12
passengers,
including
in
the
trunk,
defy
five-seat
limits.
Authorities
say
94%
of
road
accidents
in
the
country
of
15
million
people
are
caused
by
human
error.
Cellphone
distractions
among
drivers
and
pedestrians
cause
about
10%
of
deaths,
said
Munesu
Munodawafa,
head
of
the
Traffic
Safety
Council
of
Zimbabwe.
“That
is
frightening,”
said
Munodawafa.
“For
such
a
small
population,
those
numbers
are
alarming.”
A
regional
problem
Zimbabwe’s
crisis
mirrors
a
wider
African
pattern.
Road
accidents
here
kill
about
300,000
people
annually,
about
a
quarter
of
the
global
toll.
The
continent
has
the
world’s
highest
fatality
rate
at
26.6
deaths
per
100,000
people,
compared
with
a
global
average
of
about
18,
according
to
the
U.N.
Economic
Commission
for
Africa.
This
is
despite
the
continent
of
1.5
billion
people
accounting
for
just
about
3%
of
the
global
vehicle
population.
Road
traffic
deaths
in
Africa
are
also
rising
quicker
than
in
any
other
region,
with
fatalities
jumping
17%
between
2010
and
2021,
according
to
the
World
Health
Organization’s
latest
Africa
road
safety
report
released
in
mid-2024.
The
WHO
links
the
surge
in
part
to
weak
road
safety
laws
and
enforcement,
reckless
driving,
and
rapid
urbanization
and
motorization.
Vehicle
registrations
in
Africa
nearly
tripled
between
2013
and
2021,
driven
by
imported
used
vehicles
and
a
sharp
rise
in
motorcycles
and
three-wheelers.
Pedestrians,
cyclists
and
riders
of
two-
and
three-wheelers
account
for
about
half
of
all
fatalities,
according
to
the
U.N.
agency.
In
Uganda, where
unregulated
motorcycles
dominate
transport,
reckless
overtaking
and
speeding
caused
44.5%
of
crashes
in
2024,
police
there
say,
while
in
neighboring
Kenya
and
across
East
Africa, frequent
accidents
on
poor
roads and
dangerous
driving
fuel
repeated
calls
for
tougher
road
safety
rules.
Searching
for
solutions
To
increase
road
safety,
police
in
Zimbabwe
have
recently
acquired
body
cameras
and
breathalyzers
and
are
pushing
for
a
review
of
the
driver
licensing
system,
including
docking
points
for
offenders
and
a
revamp
of
driver
training
programs
to
highlight
the
dangers
of
reckless
driving.
“Drivers
are
not
licensed
to
be
killers,
they
are
licensed
to
practice
road
safety
and
safeguard
lives
on
the
road
but
sadly
that
is
not
the
case,”
said
police
spokesperson
Paul
Nyathi.
For
instructors
like
Muvhevhi,
survival
has
become
the
lesson.
“When
we
are
teaching
our
students,
it’s
no
longer
an
issue
of
just
obtaining
the
driver’s
license,”
he
said.
“We
teach
them
to
stay
alive
in
spite
of
incorrect
actions
of
other
road
users.”