There Is A Need To Retrain Our Bus Drivers

The stories of the horror crash that claimed more than FIFTY LIVES just outside the town of Rusape haunts me.The fact that the images of the victims of the crashed were posted on social media before their next of kin had been notified shows just how destructive a smart phone can be in the hands of someone who does not have any qualms.

There Is A Need To Retrain Our Bus Drivers

But what really irks me is the fact that the accident could have been avoided if the diver of the  bus had practiced caution and observed the rules of the road.Reports point to the fact that he caused the accident by overtaking on a spot where there was a solid line in the road indicating that there the road aheads was not clear enough for him to make the decision to overtake.Just a few more minutes ,if this driver had been patient enough to hold his horses all the passengers who perished in the crash could have been been saved.

The fifty victims were parents,fathers,mothers,brothers,sister,aunts,uncles,daughters,sons of someone and the loss is going to be felt for years to come.Often we have seen drivers who behave as if the roads are their personal property and the other road users need to accede them way whenever they see bus or combi drivers approaching.Many a time slower road users are verbally abused for driving slowly or obstructing bus drivers from overtaking and speeding along to their destinations. Such impunity needs to be checked and the future loss of other passengers avoided.The once was a time when the traffic police would waylay vehicles which were speeding and the speedsters were stopped and fined on the spot.One wonders what happened to all the expensive equipment that was used by the police.The is hardly any traffic police officers on the roads nowadays.

The other thing that needs to be fixed is the way in which drivers are taught.Most of the time they are simply taught how to navigate the vehicles into the drums and very little regard is paid to road safety ,In believe this should be the emphasis when one goes for driver training because a vehicle is a wrecking ball in the hands of an incompetent driver.

Bus drivers as well as drivers of commuter omnibuses need to be retrained with the safety of other road users being stressed.Most of the times when there are traffic obstructions these are the drivers who will create extra traffic lanes and threaten the lives of other road users with their selfish behavior.It has now become an unwritten law that one has to give way to any commuter omnibus whenever you see it approaching failure to do so means one does at their own risk.