The government intends to adopt the traffic penalty points system whereby drivers accumulate penalty points on their licence for committing certain traffic offences in a bid to curb road traffic accidents, reported The Herald.
Under the system, the number of points received depends on the severity of the offence and once a driver accumulates a certain number of points within a set time period, they may face consequences such as licence suspension, revocation or other penalties.
At present those found guilty of the less major traffic offences such as negligent driving resulting in the death of pedestrians simply pay a fine and face no further action.
Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) managing director, Munesu Munodawafa, said the penalty points system will help persuade drivers to comply with road rules.
Munodawafa was participating in a panel discussion with Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi and Zimbabwe Passenger Transport Organisation (ZPTO) chairperson Samson Nhanhanga last Friday. He said:
Normally if all was well, we would not expect such a system to be put in place. Our statistical analysis shows that about 94 per cent of the accidents in Zimbabwe are attributable to human error, so the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Mr Felix Mhona, has said let us encourage the human being, perhaps through this measure, to behave in a positive way.
Comm. Nyathi said the system will ensure that careless drivers will suffer the consequences of their negligence. He said:
The penalty point system, which is being mooted by the Government, is very clear in terms of the implementation modalities where, if a driver commits a particular traffic offence, indicates that the police have to be involved.
Nhanhanga concurred with the panel on the implementation of the penalty points system but urged the Government to increase the bus driver’s age limit.
A Penalty Points System encourages safe driving behaviours by penalizing repeat offenders and helps identify high-risk drivers who may need remedial training or license suspension.
It also provides a structured system for administering traffic violations and can reduce accident rates and improve overall road safety.
