Police in Mzimba have impounded 70 vehicles which were not roadworthy with the aim of curbing road accidents in the district.
This is according to Mzimba Police Station spokesperson Peter Botha who said traffic police officers embarked on the exercise to get rid of unroadworthy vehicles which threaten people’s lives.
The publicist said the district recorded six accidents in August this year out of which three were fatal. In contrast, four road accidents happened during the same period last year.
Botha said the rise in accidents led to the operation.
“The accidents prompted the police to carry out a sweeping exercise to get rid of unroadworthy vehicles. The vehicles will only be released after the motorists pay a fine.
“However, this exercise did not rule out other offences such as driving without licence, exceeding capacity, failing to comply with road signs, wrong parking, reckless driving, expired driving licence and expired certificate of fitness. All these offences contravene the Road Traffic Act,” said Botha.
He further said the exercise will be extended to rural areas to control accidents in various parts of the district.
Northern Region Police Headquarters through its publicist Peter Kalaya last month said 79 people died in road accidents in the region between January and June 2017 which was an increase from 59 fatalities that occurred in the region during the same period last year.
Kalaya also said that 152 road accidents were recorded in the region in the first six months of 2016 while 135 were recorded this year.
