THE road traffic accident statistics revealed by the Zambia Police last week are alarming and cannot pass without comment.
It is saddening to hear reports that more than 641 people have died in 8, 639 road accidents across the country in the third quarter of 2015.
This represents an increase from the 8,266 recorded during the third quarter of 2014.
First of all, the mere figures of people dying does not inspire at all, especially that Police spokesperson Charity Munganga did not indicate whether the record was reducing or increasing.
The figures do not make sense at all because the Police did not even tell the nation what they are doing to reduce or stop the rate at which the accidents are happening apart from giving the statistics.
Off course numbers make the news, but in this case the Police ought to tell the nation what they have done to reduce accidents because they know the causes quite well.
According to the Police, most of the accidents were caused by human fault and these usually occur on Fridays and Saturdays and continued to be leading days having high records of accidents with most of them happening between 18:00 and 20:00 hours.
We feel it is easier to deal with a problem when the causes are established especially that we have been told these accidents usually occur on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Police know that accidents caused on days when most people prefer to imbibe on Friday and Saturday, thereby contributing to road accidents and deaths.
But the question that should be asked is what are the Police and its coorporating partner, in this case, Road Safety and Traffic Authority (RSTA), are doing to curb this problem and reduce on drunken driving.
Of course we have seen them mounted countless police checks, which have been extended to our home doorsteps, but wonder if the punishments meted out are severe to instill fear in the public to stop the trend.
The number of accidents speaks volumes, it is either someone is sleeping on duty or accepting bribes because weekend motorists are visibly seen drinking alcohol while but nobody seem to care.
Our colleagues in uniform, especially those with white dresses should be serious and realise that when someone dies, that is the end of his or her life and thus it is prudent to act before an accident happens and not when lives have been lost.
It is hoped that the Police and RSTA can become more active in mounting Friday and Saturday night checks like was the case in the past as this would see drivers start taken caution by avoiding drunk driving.