The government is working on tough new penalties to combat reckless driving, especially by repeat offenders whose actions often lead to fatal accidents.
The proposed measures include jail time, suspension, or even cancellation of drivers’ licences for those who habitually violate traffic laws.
Speaking at The Sunday Mail/Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe Safe Driving Conference in Harare on Friday, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Joshua Sacco, said it was time for stiffer penalties to protect lives on the country’s roads. Said Sacco:
It’s strange, if you go to a supermarket and steal a can of Coke, you will be put in jail for theft. But, if you are a driver and you commit offences on the road resulting in death of eight people, you can go home and go to trial coming from your home. And if you are found guilty of culpable homicide, you are given community service.
We will be lobbying Parliament to change the law where necessary.
The government is putting together a set of proposals to encourage safer driving habits, and some of the ideas on the table are pretty bold.
Top of the list is amending the law so that drivers found guilty of culpable homicide can face jail time.
There’s also a proposed driver demerit system in the works—if you rack up too many offences, you could lose your licence altogether.
Other suggestions include setting up a public hotline where people can report reckless drivers, and rolling out digital tools that would tie unpaid fines to vehicle licence renewals—basically, no paying up, no registering your car.
The government is also looking at tightening the rules around vehicle ownership.
Right now, a lot of cars change hands informally without being properly registered to new owners, which makes it hard to pin responsibility for fines or accidents on the actual driver behind the wheel.
More: The Sunday Mail
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