Zimbabwe Diaries Part 2 - State of the road user Now, everyone knows that Harare is a beautiful city with beautiful people, and scenery. As alluded to in Part 1, travelling to Zimbabwe by road is quite a testing adventure given the generally poor state of roads. But i will be quick to say, it does seem like some of the roads, like the Harare-Mutare road and the Bulawayo road, are really being fixed (credit where it is due). Regardless, it is not the state of the road that struck me the most. Instead, the state of the ROAD USER has deteriorated so much that even when traffic lights are functioning, we still need traffic police to direct traffic at intersections - and not that the traffic cops are really helpful. If you wind up in the wrong lane, you are screwed because people dont give you way even if you indicate you want to turn into another lane, or if you are reversing out of a parking spot. General motorists overtake on the left, and routinely so, like its the fashionable thing to do. I have only seen worse driving habits from Taxi drivers and to be honest, i am quite confused who is currently the worst drivers, Taxi drivers or Harare drivers. And I say this knowing full well that so many of the small ex-japs are being used as taxis. That would all be fair if we at least respected the idea that accidents can happen and can be very grievous to both body and life. Check out in the pictures the amount of traffic in the CBD, and this is not even at peak hour traffic. Also check out the touts akarembera paka Raum (red car + silver car), a car even smaller than my beloved Tercel. Surely if you gonna use such a small car for a taxi, there is no need for a tout to accompany you on the trip. Lastly, I believe the road user in Harare is a very angry person. Maybe that explains the terrible driving. Everyone is in or trying to get into the road users pocket. 1. Top of the list is Zinara with their toll gates, impromptu road blocks and vehicle registrations. 2. They are occasionally joined by ZBC with their bogus car radio licensing, and VID. 3. Then there is the parking attendants who are mosquito like in both ubiquity and character. As soon as you halt to a stop they are there to blood suck your hard earned dollar. 4. Top of other peoples lists is the ever present ZRPolice who skillfully always find a fault on your vehicle that warrants a fine of sorts. 5. Lets not forget those greedy fuel traders and associated industry whose price of blended petrol still exceeds that of unblended fuels in neighbouring countries (and all this in the midst of an international drop in oil prices). I guess if i was a regular Harare driver, id be very angry too.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 10:39:32 +0000
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