Galvanized by tragedy

Truck accidents are an all too common occurrence around Mazabuka.  This morning, there was another horrible accident at the Shoprite intersection.  A truck loaded with several large bins of ice was en route to the Kafue River to collect fish when it slammed through the fence and rolled over.  The biggest tragedy is that there were several people riding in the back of the open trailer.  I am told that eleven people lost their lives and that another eight are in hospital with various fractures.  The scale of the tragedy is truly difficult to comprehend.

Incidentally, today was the scheduled quarterly meeting of the Full Council.  As a result, the councilors were definitely talking about the morning's accident.  They resolved that the Council officers should move ahead with the by-pass road and, as an interim measure, find some money to install warning signs and additional speed humps on the current route through town.  The sticky situation is that the Councilors are determined that the work should proceed on a different by-pass route than the one proposed in the IDP - essentially replacing an entire 60 kilometre stretch of highway.  While their proposal goes through much flatter terrain than the current highway, it will be an astronomically expensive route to build and will disrupt a number of small villages.  In contrast, the other by-pass road is about 8 kilometres, crossing through three large farms.  No solution is ever perfect...

The day's deliberations.

Recognizing the dangers of the Shoprite intersection, the Council did recently get out and paint the road with some markings to control traffic.  I've spent a bit of time observing the intersection and have noticed that people do pay heed to the lanes and the stop line.  It's a start, but it won't stop any runaway trucks.