AT LEAST 604 people died in road traffic accidents recorded during the third quarter, the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (ZimStat) has revealed.
In its latest report on transport statistics, ZimStats said the country witnessed a 15% increase in fatalities during the third quarter of 2023 despite a slight decrease in overall road traffic accidents.
“Of the 12 564 road traffic accidents that were reported during third quarter 2023, deaths were 604 and injuries were 2 624,” ZimStats said.
While the total number of accidents decreased by 3,2% compared to the second quarter, fatalities increased.
“Road traffic accidents decreased by 3,2% compared to the second quarter 2023. Of the 12 564 road traffic accidents reported in third quarter 2023, 460 were fatal. A quarter-on-quarter comparison shows a 15,0% increase from 400 fatal accidents reported in second quarter 2023.”
About 20 people have been killed in the past four days in traffic accidents recorded during the start of the festive season.
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Most traffic accidents are blamed on human error and poor roads.
ZimStat also revealed that less than half of motorists have legal driver licences.
According to the report, 61 644 candidates undertook a certificate of competency test during the third quarter of 2023, and only 43,2% succeeded.
The report shows that in all provinces except Bulawayo, the proportion of candidates who passed provisional driver’s licence tests during 3rd quarter of 2023 were above 50%, ranging from 59,9% in Midlands to 78,0 in Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central, respectively.
About 80% of the individuals, who were retested, succeeded.
Previously, a World of Statistics report on road traffic accidents ranked Zimbabwe as one of the world’s two countries with the most unsafe road networks.
According to World of Statistics, 41 per every 100 000 people die of road traffic injuries in Zimbabwe.
According to statistics released by ZimStat, 8 897 people died in traffic accidents between 2019 and 2022.
Approximately 2 079 people lost their lives in 52 585 road traffic accidents recorded last year alone.