By CLEVER ZULU –

THE Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) in conjunction with the Lusaka City Council Fast Track Court has convicted a total of 404 people for various traffic offences during the months of January and February.

RTSA director Zindaba Soko said the cases convicted ranged from dangerous driving to driving without putting on a seatbelt contrary to the Road Traffic Act number 11 of 2002.

Most of the offenders who were convicted paid their fines while others were jailed for failure to pay the stipulated fines for each offence committed.

Other cases were, driving under the influence of alcohol, unlicenced driver, obstruction of roadway by motor way, driving unregistered motor vehicle, careless driving, use of handheld mobile phone and failure to obey traffic signs.

And RTSA principal public relations officer Mercy Mwila said adherence levels to traffic rules in Lusaka had improved since the Fast Track Court began operating in October last year.

“We have seen an increase in observation of traffic rules by motorists after we began convicting the offenders in October last year but we are still working on other ways to curb those that are still rampant like obstruction of the way, that causes traffic congestion,” she said in Lusaka yesterday.

Ms Mwila said the Agency had since stepped up efforts to establish another Court on the Copperbelt and various parts of the country to improve the adherence to road traffic rules.

“Plans are underway to set up another Court on the Copperbelt where we have a lot of traffic which needs to be regulated effectively while offenders need to face the law,” she added.