By JULIUS PHIRI –
THE Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has recorded 400 fatalities out of 7,767 road traffic accidents in the first quarter of this year, RTSA director, Zindaba Soko has said.
Mr Soko said there was a reduction in the number of fatalities recorded over the years on the roads because of a number of measures that had been put in place by RTSA.
He said at a Press briefing in Chipata yesterday that in 2012, the country recorded 2,360 fatalities out of 28,247 road traffic accidents, while in 2013, a total of 1,851 fatalities were recorded out of 29,118 road traffic accidents.
“Several measures are being put in place to ensure that there is a reduction in the road fatalities because in 2012 we had 2,360 while in 2013 we recorded 1,851 fatalities,” he said.
Mr Soko said although the road traffic accidents had increased, deaths recorded had reduced.
He said currently there were about 50 per cent of road accidents which were mainly being caused by the pedestrians and cyclists in the country.
He said the country was losing a lot of pedestrians and cyclists in the road accidents.
Mr Soko, who was flanked by deputy director Gladwell Banda, said RTSA was also in the process of rolling out fast track courts to all provincial headquarters by next year.
He said RTSA would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the judiciary in order to continue prosecuting traffic related offences.
