Story by Tapiwa Machemedze
THE government has launched the 2025 Independence and Easter Road Safety Campaign, with authorities set to deploy breathalysers and advanced road surveillance technologies to reduce traffic accidents.
The campaign was launched in Mashonaland Central province this Monday, amid growing concern over road fatalities, especially during peak travel periods such as the Easter holidays.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Honourable Felix Mhona, confirmed that breathalysers will be introduced at roadblocks across the country as a key tool in combating drunk driving.
“We promised to use breathalysers at roadblocks, so you will find that our roadblocks will have breathalysers,” he said.
The government is also targeting to deploy new technologies to enhance road safety enforcement and eliminate human error and corruption.
“This year, our target is to see technologies and cameras on the roads. We must agree that we all have failed on our own as there are some ’exchanges’ that happen on the roads. So, we have seen that camera and technology is the solution. Technology can’t be bribed,” the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Honourable Kazembe Kazembe noted.
Motorists welcomed the safety awareness campaign while the Greater Harare Association of Commuter omnibus operators highlighted deployment of technologies will enhance benefits for both operators and passengers.
“It is good to see our leaders coming from their offices for such a worthy cause as road traffic safety. The accidents on the roads are indeed a major concern,” a motorist said.
“I am happy that technologies are soon to be deployed on the roads. This is a good thing for us as operators and the passengers,” another added.
Last year, there were 286 road traffic accidents during the Easter period and Mashonaland central province was not spared from the road carnage.
Technologies that will soon be deployed on the roads through collaboration between ZINARA and a local company were sampled at the launch of the safety campaign, which is running under the theme, ‘Safety starts with me’.
