Trainee police driver in freak accident
By Whinsley Masara
A cop doing driving lessons in Bulawayo yesterday drove a police vehicle into a shop in the city centre after failing to control it.
The female officer, whose name could not be obtained, was having lessons under the supervision of a police instructor along Jason Moyo Avenue.
Pedestrians fled for dear life as the vehicle careened into Farmbiz Shop, corner Jason Moyo Street and 10th Avenue at around 12 noon.
The vehicle smashed through a glass display and came to a halt against a pile of 50kg bags of fertiliser in the shop.
Within minutes, scores of people had gathered, a majority of them taking pictures and videos that went viral on social media.
A vendor, Mrs Agnes Mathe, who operates along the pavement, said she scurried out of the way as she saw “the unlikely vision” of a police vehicle moving towards her on the pavement.
“I’m still in shock. I thank God the police Defender labelled “Gwelutshena”, wasn’t speeding. Had it been speeding, it would have hit me because I was relaxed. Never in my life years would I have expected a car to drive towards me on the pavement, away from the road,” said Mrs Mathe who still appeared shaken.
“Usually police officers do their driving lessons along this road. The driver was supposed to slow down and make a u-turn. Instead, she accelerated and the vehicle went right through the glasses of the shop.”
A Mr Moyo, who was walking past the shop, said it was dangerous for learner drivers to start doing lessons in the CBD without adequate practice.
“It is dangerous to do driving lessons in a city centre where there is heavy traffic flow and many pedestrians.
“Driving learners disturb traffic on busy roads and they should first practice outside the city centre,” he said.
Farmbiz Operations Manager, Mr Misheck Maravanyika said the incident was unfortunate.
“Apparently, in this case, people were amused by the fact that it’s a police officer in a police vehicle who was involved in this unlikely accident. It is an unfortunate scenario, bound to happen to anyone. Accidents do happen on a daily basis and today our dear sister was unfortunate to lose control of the vehicle,” said Mr Maravanyika.
He said the shop was still quantifying the damage. The Chronicle
