Cattle to wear reflectors at night

02 Nov, 2014 - 01:11 0 Views
Cattle to wear reflectors at night

The Sunday News

FARMERS might soon be expected to put reflective tags on their livestock to increase the animals’ visibility at night, in efforts to reduce vehicle-animal collision along the country’s highways and roads, a Government official has said.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Cde Petronella Kagonye told Sunday News on Thursday last week that her ministry was working on a raft of measures aimed at reducing road accidents involving vehicles and animals.

Although statistics of vehicle-animal collisions recorded so far this year could not be immediately established, Cde Kagonye said the rate at which such type of accidents were occurring was a cause for concern.

“We are working with the Ministry of Agriculture, traditional leaders and the police to see how we can help each other curb vehicle-animal collisions on our roads. One of the measures we are proposing is to have farmers put reflective ear tags on their animals so that they can be more visible at night.

“I may not have figures of vehicle-animal collisions recorded so far this year, but off hand I can tell you that most of these accidents occur at night, which is why we are proposing putting of reflective ear tags on animals as one of the measures to curb such types of accidents,” she said.

Cde Kagonye added that her Ministry would, next month, launch a campaign in the Matabeleland region, aimed at raising awareness among farmers and community members on the importance of keeping their animals away from the roads and highways.

She said her ministry chose to launch the campaign in Matabeleland as most of the road accidents involving vehicles and animals were being recorded in the region.

The transport deputy minister also encouraged farmers and communities who live along the country’s highways to erect perimeter fences on their farms and pieces of land to ensure that their animals do not stray onto the roads. She warned that letting one’s animal stray into the highway, was a chargeable offence and police would not hesitate to deal with offenders.

Chapter 13.11 of the Road Traffic Act criminalises the negligent act of leaving one’s domestic animals straying into roads and highways and the offence is punishable by a fine.

“We used to have four-strand-wires along the highways which prevented animals from straying onto the highway but these have since been vandalised or removed allowing animals to easily encroach into the roads. We encourage farmers to restore these fences.

“Much as it is punishable for one to let their cattle stray into the roads, as Government we are not focusing on punishing farmers but much of our thrust is on preventive measures. No fine or any form of punishment can bring back lost life, which is why we are putting most of our efforts towards preventive measures,” she said.

Traffic Safety Council spokesperson Mr Ernest Muchena said in as much as it was the responsibility of farmers to make sure that their animals were kept away from the highways and roads, motorists also needed to take due caution and care when travelling.

He encouraged motorists to avoid speeding especially at night, and observe road traffic signs as a way of reducing the risk of colliding with stray animals.

“The other challenge we have is that of speeding by our motorists, especially at night. Most headlights can illuminate a distance of 100 metres and nothing beyond that. For example if one is travelling at 120km/hr, they need a distance of close to 130 metres to be able to stop, yet their lights can only pick things that are 100 metres or less away. What it then means is that if you are travelling at that speed your chances of avoiding stray animals that are within the range of your headlights are limited,” he said.

Mr Muchena said the council was working with police to identify areas where vehicle-animal collisions were prevalent before carrying out campaigns in those areas, encouraging owners of animals to pen their animals as a way of keeping them away from the roads and highways.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths as a result of road traffic accidents recorded so far in the country has declined compared to last year.
According to figures obtained from the police, 1 209 people were killed and 10 410 injured in 28 351 accidents recorded nationally in the first nine months of this year.

In the same period last year, 1 435 people died and 11 074 were injured in 29 804 accidents recorded nationally.

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