I agree that anyone driving a motor vehicle or a boat should
ensure that the passengers are safe.
Seat belts are compulsory in this country. In some countries, the driver
of a car gets fined if under aged passengers are not properly protected. It is
the responsibility of adult passengers to buckle up. But we are asking for
legislation. This will take time and will also give another reason for a bribe
at roadside roadblocks. All we need is discipline. We must all
enforce what we just wrote above in every trip of ours, no matter how short it
is. A few years back, my son had an
accident fifty meters outside our gate. He just drove off to go to school and
he was hit by another car which failed to stop at a stop sign. His 4 x 4 rolled
twice and landed on its wheels, in front of my wife and daughters who were
following him in another car. If he was not wearing his seat belt, we would
have had a major situation. He was. He didn't have a scratch. So people. Stop asking others to do
something. Enforce what you believe is right and ask your friends and
family to do the same. Nestoras
………………
Against the law in law abiding safety conscious countries
………….
Wow. A lot of comments to read which has
been interesting. I’m glad to see that most comments are PRO safety, meaning
seatbelts, car chairs, booster seats and DEFINITELY no passengers in the back
of an open truck, or a truck with a canopy (I feel that is a bit of a pointless
law in S.A – even if there is a canopy on, still no seatbelts, and if truck
rolled, still casualties?!! Not so?)
To the few readers who disagreed with the
safety rules, yes, we all grew up without seatbelts (many cars were
manufactured without them). Time and tests have proven this was unsafe! We were
all very lucky to have gotten by mostly unscathed. Back in those days, there
were a lot less vehicles on the roads as well. “In my day”….a favourite phrase,
we generally didn’t have rules of life-jackets, seatbelts, helmets for colts
cricket, helmets for cycling etc etc. Yes, you can say if something happened,
it was an ‘accident’ but where is the harm in being safe?! Rather safe than
sorry! I personally do not let my children get on the boat without a
life-jacket (regardless if they can swim or not!), on their bikes without a
helmet and in the car without being buckled up – and never in the front and
never in the back of the truck!
Most people seem to be “downing” Australia
– firstly, it is not just Australia that has these rules but every 1st
world sensible country and these countries prove that safety comes first by
having far less deaths and accidents due to these law-enforced rules. Yes, it
can be a pain that they have so many rules, but they are there for our
protection and more importantly for our children’s protection. I can’t see why
this is a bad thing?!! My children are still young but I am dreading the day
they start learning to drive. If we lived in Australia, I would be a far
happier and less-stressed mother, letting them drive on the roads there!
(firstly, drivers that KNOW HOW TO DRIVER, no commuters, no drinking and
reckless drivers and law-enforced speed limits, seatbelts, no phones etc. It is
just not worth breaking the rules there!)
……………..
Agree but no law here. Drink drive no
indicators robot jumping no give way right speeding u turns no lights blah blah
blah. not using seat belts kids not strapped in. The list is endless. Nothing
improves sadly
……………
Come on. As someone said “accidents do happen”. I agree no standing
or sitting on side of bakkies ( I see ZRP details doing this daily down
Arcturus road) But if you want to avoid accidents then suggest you do not
drive in cars, boats, fly , swim, bike and so on. And
please do not let us be guided by 1st world Australian rules, rules,
rules. We are 3rd ( sometimes 4th ! ) world Africa and
open bakkies are the way we are. John
………………..
You know, I have to agree with a lot of the different comments written
in about this incident. I can see where nearly everyone is coming from. I have
looked at moving to Australia and the main thing that has stopped me from doing
that is the ridiculous laws that they have their. Living in Zimbabwe still
allows you to breathe and have some good clean fun. I know the laws in
Australia and other parts of the world like that are mainly put in place for
safety purposes and definitely save lives. That’s good! The only problem with
that is it restricts the sensible people from living life to the full. It is
definitely not sensible to allow very small children to sit on the front of
boats at all, never mind in bad weather when the lakes are rough or there is
another boat in the area. You could also hit a tree stump in the water etc. Or
small kids on the tops & backs of bakkies etc. Sensible drivers
with sensible teenagers or sensible grownups on the back driving very slowly off road I
don’t see being a problem. On the Zimbabwean public roads I do see a
major problem due to the fact that the drivers in
Zimbabwe unfortunately seem to do whatever they want! On any given day any
person driving around Harare can witness dozens of traffic violations that
could cause the death of anyone of us or our children. So here I would say law
or not don’t let anyone stand on the back of a bakkie. I would even go as far
as saying don’t seat anyone on the back of a bakkie if you can help it because the one thing that
Zimbabwean drivers are terrible at and that is
coming onto or crossing roads without any warning at all, at the wrong time! Even if you are
strapped into the seat you have a huge problem here. People are dying every day
because of it. So you have very little or no chance if you are standing or
sitting on the back of a bakkie!
I
speak from experience having lost one of my two sons and believe me you do not
want to be in my or my sons position! He was strapped in the driver seat under
the speed limit and still lost his life. So law or no law, the
sensible thing is not to do this on public roads, and just think of what is at
risk if you do it off road! Kevin
…………………..
To the person who mentions i have to disagree ,
fair enough we are all allowed to give our opinions and views, its fine to
teach your kids safety comes first and to sit down in the back of bakkies,
put on seat belts and teach them about the dangers on our roads ,
(please understand there are a few that will take that minute to ensure
all is in order and educate there kids about the dangers on our roads but only
a few will do this) unfortunately there are millions of drivers on our roads
that do not give a care in the world about the other road users whether they
are vehicle owners, cyclists, pedestrians etc and to top it all we have
to contend with life threatening pot holes non working robots etc etc so to
eleviate accidents and ensure we are all safe on our roads i still feel that
the irresponsible offenders are going to give the police every excuse in the
book to implement harsher penalties and fines and by doing so hopefully this
will teach the offenders a lesson, if we are responsible and abide by the rules
of the road well then we have nothing to worry about when we are stopped
by the police .. Ted
…………………..
I Believe every driver has to be
responsible for
the safety of all passengers inside and at the back of their vehicle.
Very strict laws should apply here in Zimbabwe with all the potholes, no
lights etc. sudden stopping, swerving and hitting potholes put passengers at
greater risk. Laws are always there to protect and save lives.
Thanks. Sharon
…………………
I have to disagree. I think riding on an open
bakkie is fine as long as your kids are disciplined and sit as instructed.
There are many of us who grew up with the only option being to sit on the
back. I think the primary difference is back then when you fooled around on the
back "dad" stopped the car and gave you a damn good thrashing, so you
didn't do it again. Also not everyone can afford the same standard of vehicles
as each other. Some may only have the option of an open bakkie.
………………
Whilst
"over-regulation" in many places has been taken to a ridiculous
extreme, we
have to be protected from ourselves at times. In spite of dire
warnings about the consequences of not wearing seat belts, it was only when it
became illegal not to buckle up, that 99% of us actually buckled up. On
"bow riding" some years ago I recall a young girl getting both her legs shattered in a number of places just from the boat
ploughing into a big wave. Peter
……………..
A picture speaks a thousand
words, so rather than my usual heft rant on this subject, instead I’d like to
submit this 7 second video clip, which says it all! It shows a crash test with
two children in the rear seat, one restrained, one not. Parents: which of these
two would you like to be YOUR child in the event of a crash? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjKeq2p8kRY
…………..
I learned this lesson for myself about 20years ago. The lesson
was delivered by an adventurous rhino beetle which inadvertently meandered
across the path of the pickup we were travelling in. After the neccessary ice
packs and headache medication our journey continued. Needless to say I
have sat down in the back of pickups ever since. sirbrowndsound
…………….
After Independence a law was introduced, banning anyone
being on the back of a pick-up, trailer or lorry.
……………….
Hi mike. I just want to add what happened to me and
scared the hell out of me 2 days ago. I had collected my kids from school
and being that it was so hot and we only live 1.6km from the school I decided
to not strap my kids into their booster seats. I was pulling onto
Edinburgh Rd and a big Hilux was in my blind spot, I didnt even see him.
He saw me thankfully and stopped in time and hooted.
I slammed on breaks and both my kids were catapulted forward. No
injuries but Huge lesson learned. I wasn't even going fast, just pulling
off from the give way. My kids will be belted in now no matter how far we
are going! Imagine if they were in the back of an open truck or even
standing up! Thanks so much to the man in the Hilux for paying attention
and if he is reading this, I am still so so sorry! An accident would have
ruined my week probably, but losing one of my kids would have ruined my
life!! Pam
………………
Firstly our thoughts go out to the family of the young girl ,as one of
the readers mentions accidents will happen
and we all understand this , the sad thing is its not a nice way to
learn , if all drivers adhered to safety precautions and made sure all was
in order prior to heading on their journey these silly unnecessary accidents
should and would not happen it just takes one minute to make sure
all is in order and that your passengers are secure and safe. I feel that if
drivers are going to be irresponsible then the police should act and implement
the necessary safety clauses, penalties and fines so that drivers learn
and do not have to live with the memories of accidents caused by negligence
,the same goes for riding on the front of boats and letting infants stand in
cars, it takes a few seconds for tragedy to strike and its unfortunate
that so many people have to learn by these mistakes that we all make at some
stage in our lives. So lets all be more responsible and avoid these unnecessary accidents before
they happen ,lastly i do understand that first world countries (Australia)
have numerous laws and penalties unfortunately these have been put in place due
to stupidity, negligence and irresponsible behaviour and so on ..ted
……………….
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