Road Traffic Accidents, Causes, Trends and Preventive Measures: The Case of City of Harare (2012- 2018)
- November 15, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue X, October 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Dr David Foya
National University of Science and Technology, Department of Business Management, P.O. Box AC 939, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Abstract: – The topic of this dissertation was to establish the major causes of accidents in Zimbabwe and find out way forward. The research objectives included to establish the leading causes of road traffic accidents in the country. To examine approaches that can be adopted to reduce road accident sin Zimbabwe. Some of the research questions included what are the leading causes of accidents? What roles do different stakeholders play in reducing road traffic accidents in Zimbabwe. This study is important to various stakeholders in Zimbabwe which include government, Traffic safety Council of Zimbabwe, all road users. The researcher used mixed approaches in dealing with this challenge. Furthermore, purposive sampling was used in sampling respondents as well as random sampling for drivers. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. The major findings from this study shows the most accident s are caused by human error which include unlicensed driving, texting, alcohol consumption and driving while driving. In addition, failure to observe road regulations have been another major worry. The second major cause was the state of the vehicle. Most of the vehicles are not mechanically safe to be in the roads. The conclusions derived from the study are that all these factors have caused numerous deaths in the roads and it has become a major cost to insurance companies. State of the various roads is a major challenge to motorists and some roads are full of potholes which makes it dangers for motorists to drive through. In view of this, the study recommends that TSCZ besides awareness campaigns should take all drivers especially those of PSV through defensive course at the governments cost . This will give them appreciation of how to sustain road traffic safety for the public. There is need for more VID and police presence in major highways to check vehicles roadworthiness and state of drivers at any given point. Finally, government to work with all the stakeholders in the area of road traffic safety in order to come up with a lasting solution to road traffic accidents.
Key words: Road traffic accidents, Traffic safety, policy, traffic risk management, stakeholder participation.
