Some road accidents are avoidable

Some road accidents are avoidable


Death is life’s hardest reality. It saddens the hearts of the bereaved, yet on the other hand, it is a perfect tool for sharpening our understanding. It is a silent visitor that gropes into human affairs with no compassion and leaves us regretting, even in circumstances that were totally beyond our control. We typically think there was something that we would have done to save the deceased’s life – and sometimes, indeed such a possibility would have been there.

Death, surely, is for human beings, and therefore, all human beings must die. Nevertheless, its most disturbing irony is that it comes parked with all sorts of things that impel all sorts of explanations, even if it was expected; and even those that take others’ lives are in constant awe of death. That is why, for centuries, man has failed to understand death, because it does not change.

The death of a loved one is always painful – even if it is a hated loved one. No man in his normal sanity celebrates death. Even when a dangerous criminal is dying on the gallows, amidst shouts from witnesses, there always is that fear and pain of death, and you are then left concluding that only at this point, death has dominion.

The soaring rate of road accidents that are occurring on roads of Malawi is always giving Malawians ulcers. Travelers are in perfect fear of a darker future likely to dawn on them in the course of their journey. The pride of death is now complete and it has found numerous ways of visiting its victims. While in the past, deaths were very rare occurrences, now they are a dime a dozen. They have become common tragedies in human existence.

The most painful thing with most road accidents that take place on roads of Malawi is that they are a direct consequence of negligence and recklessness, habitually, on the part of drivers. How does a driver who spent his good time at a driving school enter a main road – or just any other road – without first checking whether or not a car is coming in either direction?

One thing that appears to be a very big problem that is contributing to road accidents, which could be avoided, is that most drivers who have the authority to take their vehicles to roads and streets are not competent enough to do such daring jobs. Driving has become one of the most ‘viable’ careers and nowadays, the majority of youths who finish their Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) desire to do driving.

And most of them acquire driving licenses even without having fully and competently finished their driving lessons. The corrupting influence of money is needlessly leading to loss of lives that would successfully contribute towards the development of this country.

Driving is both a theoretical and practical career, though most of its tenets may involve practice. Therefore, it is crucial that someone is certified a driver only after having satisfied all the requirements of driving.

It appears there is the tendency of taking driving as the easiest career among many Malawians, yet in actual sense, this is supposed to be the most involving profession because its application deals with human life. Every driver must be conscious of the fact that he is dealing with the irreplaceable thing that is only given out once. Thus, it makes sense that someone meditates thoroughly before joining the “driving profession”.

It goes without saying that most Malawian roads are in better conditions now due to constant renovations that are going on across the length and the breadth of the country, and road accidents were subsequently supposed to be the last thing to claim human life.

After all, statistics show that most road accidents in Malawi take place on roads that are in good conditions other than on those that are in dilapidated states. This is usually because of carelessness on the parts of most drivers. For instance, the numerous road accidents that take place on the well-constructed Chipembere Highway in Blantyre begs the question of what has gone wrong with drivers who use the road, all of a sudden.

Everyone, especially drivers, should take a leading responsibility in taming road accidents. With the ever-increasing rate of industrial development, traveling is inevitable among the average Malawian, and the easiest mode appears to be by road. Thus, all those who travel need to be guaranteed of their safety; otherwise, this dark future connected with road transport on Malawian roads is scaring.

Moreover, it appears, the current trend on these road accidents, indeed, portends a future that is likely to be darker than the present, with more and more threats on lives of Malawians.