Zimbabwe has capped the maximum speed in public service vehicles.
By August 1, all vehicles in the public transport must be fitted with speed limiters, capping the maximum speed at 100 kilometres per hour.
The new rules have been gazetted and police instructed to implement them.
Commercial trucks weighing at least 4,600 kilogrammes must also be fitted with speed limiters, the Ministry of Transport said on Friday.
Mounting pressure
The government said it is only the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) that will inspect the speed limiters and thereafter direct the commissioner of road transport to issue compliant operators with licences.
Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Felix Mhona said the rules will help avert harm and deaths on the roads.
The maximum speed for other vehicles remains 120 kilometres per hour on the highway and 80 kilometres per hour on narrower roads.
Calls for Zimbabwe to introduce speed limiters on public service vehicles have mounted of late following an increase in the number of road accidents.
Worrying statistics
Zimbabwe’s accident-related deaths rose from 1,836 in 2016 to average 2,000 annually between 2017 and 2019, according to government records.
In three weeks alone – between December 15, 2022 and January 5, 2023 – the country lost 127 people in road accidents, which was an increase from the 102 deaths recorded in the same period the previous year.
A Road Safety Performance Review report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2022 indicated that Zimbabwe had the highest road accident mortality rate in Southern Africa.
Poor infrastructure, poorly maintained vehicles and unlicensed drivers were listed as the leading causes of road accidents in Zimbabwe.
