Fund proposed to compensate road accident victims

Sat, 17 Jun 2017 11:29:53 +0000

By KALOBWE BWALYA

THE Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) should consider setting up a fund to compensate road traffic accident victims, says Zambia’s high commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba.

Mr Mwamba said the establishment of the Road Traffic Accident Compensation Fund will ensure that road accident victims were adequately compensated.

Mr Mwamba said this when a delegation from RTSA and Zambia Law Development Commission paid a courtesy call on him in Pretoria. He urged Zambians to study the South African road safety and management framework which he said was impressive.

He observed that South Africa had established a separate road fund system to compensate road accident victims. There was an urgent need for Zambia to emulate the system following the increase in the number of road accidents the country was experiencing.

Mr Mwamba urged RTSA to ensure that the design of new roads had emergency lanes, among other safety features as was the case with South Africa.

“Effective study on the South African roads management and safety system presented an opportunity to Zambia to ensure that road accident victims are adequately compensated,” said Mr Mwamba.

And delegation leader of the review of the Road Transport Legal Institutional and Policy Framework, Mr Samuel Nyirongo, said the review of road transport and safety in Zambia had become necessary following the increased number of road accidents and fatalities. Mr Nyirongo said once the legislation concerning road safety and management were harmonized, enforcement agencies would become more effective and relevant to the changing needs of society.