Tuesday 5 May 2015

Accident Museum Next Tourist Attraction


Atase. Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao 'Fight of the Century', my foot. Now that I have got that out of my chest, I can move on to more serious matters that are genuinely worthy of my time and deserve someone staying up all night for. Another tragic accident occurred this past week in Kalomo which claimed the lives of eight individuals, seven of whom were from the same family. It seems road traffic accidents have become our Achilles heel and the number of lives that are being lost is alarming. In order to address, this situation the government has decided to come up with a 'genius' idea, why not have an Accident Museum.

 

An Accident Museum, really government, seriously government, is that the best you can come up with. Ok, let us accept for a moment that this Accident Museum idea actually goes ahead just how exactly is it supposed to work.  Is it supposed to act like some tourist attraction where people go check out mangled up cars and how people died or lost a leg. I can just imagine this conversation.

Girlfriend: Honey what are we doing for Valentine's Day?

Boyfriend: Darling today is a special day, am taking you to the Accident Museum.

Anything that has to do with the fear factor hardly works. Look at countries that still have the death penalty for drug traffickers, people still risk it. At best the Accident Museum will just become an educational place for primary school pupils to have a day out. And by the time these pupils reach driving eligibility age they would have forgotten about the museum itself. Quite frankly, I would not find myself going to the museum. I do not want to go and see accident crashes, mashed up cars and being told the gory details of how each accident happened.

 
The gravity of this problem is really a national dilemma that desperately needs a solution. The challenge that government and the Road, Traffic, Safety Agency (RTSA) are faced with are people's attitudes on the road. I have friends who drive their cars, take their speedometers to 200Km/hr and then even have the audacity to get a picture on their phone. Foolish. Or those who boast that they travelled between Lusaka and Ndola in slightly over 2 hours as if it is an accomplishment.  Let us even consider those who after watching Fast and Furious 7 think their cars are some indestructible machines. Changing such type of mindsets is the question that we have to answer.

 

The sad part about this mess is that there many good drivers in Zambia but all it takes is one reckless driver to try and overtake at a curve and that decision ruins the lives of families forever. From the Accident Museum, what will be next perhaps putting humps on every high ways. I personally think one short term measure can be that passengers in cars, buses and any other public transport need to take more responsibility. If a driver is over speeding they need to demand that they reduce their speed. I do not know how many people know the RTSA hotline and actually use it to report reckless driving and what actually happens when someone reports. RTSA may also consider placing camera's on high ways too.

 
The Accident Museum at best will just be there to take up space, but I hardly doubt that it will do anything in stopping the number of road traffic accidents in this country. I also think that this is not just the issue of government or even RTSA and this issue of commanding RTSA to do something by government officials is only saving face. It is a complex issue that  people have found everything and everybody around them to blame for the cause but themselves. The responsibility for preventing and reducing road traffic accidents lies with all of us.


What do you think can be done about the road traffic accident situation in Zambia?

4 comments:

  1. I happened to be driving to Livingstone around the same period that the accident occurred. Actually the image of the mangled Toyota Noah near Kalomo still haunts me to this day. Many of the accidents on our roads are caused by driver stupidity. The way some people drive on these roads you would think they are auditioning for Formula 1. It is understandable that driving is probably not the luxury it was previously, but the excitement on our roads has to be contained. In the end there is not much anyone can do about drivers who are obsessed with overtaking and display all the patience of a lactating Rhinoceros.

    People should learn that once on the road you are not competing with anyone. The road is a public good and the next person enjoys just as much of right to use it as yourself. There is no need for these pitiful duels that one sees on our roads. I also think RATSA should tighten the screening process for awarding licences. I have had my fair share of idiots who know nothing about basic driving rules, so much that I have often been left wondering how such even obtained licences.

    Pleasure reading your blog as always.

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    1. Getting to change the mindset on the roads is the great big question that we need to answer. I do not know if more road blocks, accident museums would work. I think the stripping of licenses or license suspension would be a good.

      Thanks for reading Keith highly appreciated

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  2. if we are people who work with statistics, we should take note that the accident graph has spiraled since the formula 1 and link Zambia were embarked on, as such, i would advice RTSA or GRZ to not only look into the drivers but also the standard of the roads, they might be good yet not so compatible with the dynamics of the machines moving on them. Then GRZ must not only work on roads but also the railway system to bring it to better standards in terms of price, comfortability and efficiency(time taken to travel a given distance) which will in turn discourage the use of personal vehicles for long distance travels. if possible they should also mount readily available paramedics within a give distance, this will reduce the number of people dying when the are involved in accidents. INFOR

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  3. I think we already have accidents museums at the police stations where all the mangled cars are parked and the truth is no one goes to view them. lol.

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