PSV night ban cuts down on road fatalities

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 14:14:40 +0000

By SANDRA MACHIMA

GOVERNMENT has been commended over the ban on night travel by public service vehicles which has drastically reduced night road fatalities but warned against complacency.

But Zambia Road Safety Trust (ZRST) chairman Daniel Mwamba has urged Government to speed up road safety measures to curb the spiraling road casualty toll, saying by the end of 2016, more than 2,000 people would have been killed in road traffic accidents.

He said according to their survey, there was ‘‘zero result road deaths’’ during the night hour since Government signed into law the SI 76 that restricted PSVs moving between 21:00 hours and 05:00 hours.

“We also hope that other new initiatives such as the SIs on driver fatigue management, GPS and speed  limiters mandatory installation on all PSVs and wearing of seatbelts will start giving us what we all want – reduction on casualties and fatalities soon,” he said.

Mr Mwamba said there was no doubt that road transport contributed in a significant way to the prosperity of the country.

He said ZRST’s ambition of achieving ‘‘vision zero’’ – no more deaths and serious injuries on the roads – was still some way off.  ‘‘No road death is acceptable; the sudden and traumatic experience of a road death or serious injury can be devastating and isolating,’’ he said.

Mr Mwamba said in order to fight road accidents and reverse the current trend, the Government should improve the way Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) and the police collaborate on road safety matters, and also increase the penalties for people who cause death by careless or dangerous driving. He observed that lack of attention, reckless driving, drunken driving, speeding, bad personal habits, social and behavioural misconduct and inconsiderate drivers of larger vehicles and buses were some of the causes of accidents.

Mr Mwamba said his organisation wanted to see targeted enforcement, education and campaigning, and more emphasis on shared responsibility among the different system providers as well as personal responsibility during 2017.