•ROAD Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) chief executive officer Zindaba Soko (third from left) and Senior Chief Ishindi of the Lunda-speaking people of Zambezi District in North-western province discussing road safety. This was when Mr Soko paid a courtesy call on him at his palace recently.
Picture by CHATULA KAMPO

By CHATULA KAMPO –

RURAL road safety is a great concern, because the majority of highway fatalities take place in rural areas where people have little knowledge of safety rules.
According to Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) statistics, 50 per cent of the fatal accidents on the roads have been recorded in rural areas located near the highways.
This is, however, a clear indicator that rural people are still vulnerable to Traffic Accidents (RTA) as the levels of conflict revolving around pedestrians, cyclists and motorists on a general note have continued to soar.
The development of roads in rural areas has attracted villagers who take a tarred road as a social amenity in areas they never existed.
Some villagers just go to the road to have a feel of the tarmark and view vehicles moving on the newly refurbished road.
Unfortunately enough, such road users that include cyclists and pedestrians have been victims of road traffic accidents. Lack of law enforcement authorities and poorly riddled sensitisation agenda on road safety in rural areas, has lead to many road users being ignorant about the pros and cons of road safety in relation to road users.
The tarring of roads in rural areas have been grossly attributed to, among others, the leading factor to RTAs in the wake of most motorists getting excited to experiment the on the new roads and those rehabilitated infrastructure through the guise of over spending.
Roads in rural areas provide the rural folk a place from which to trade their skills of selling an assortment of goods and services to the public, including the travelling members of society.
Some stand by the road side carrying out their trade, while others use the infrastructure to commute from one area to the other.
Worse still, it is most of the people situated along the roads that fall prey to speeding motorists who in the process, cause RTAs, sometimes killing pedestrians or other road users in the process.

Senior Chief Ishindi and Senior Chief Ndungu of Lunda and Luvale speaking people in Zambezi District in North-western Province respectively attributes the increasing number of fatal accident in rural areas to the failure by users to adhere to road traffic regulations and rules.
Last month in Zambezi District, as Chief Ishindi put it, most road users in the areas are still ignorant to road traffic rules, which have also fueled cases of high road mishaps.
He said the tarring of the main road have led to the increase of accidents as many motorists speed due to excitements of plying on smooth roads.
“We have continued to have road traffic accidents on the newly tarred roads here due to untrained and incompetent drivers, faulty and unfit vehicles on the road.
“Motorists here learn how to drive by trial and error. Some are taught by their spouses and do not get tested. That is why we have continued to record accidents on the newly tarred road.” he said
The chief called for the need to have driving schools and the presence of the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) in all rural areas.
Chief Ndungu of the Luvale-speaking people in the same district said the level of drunk driving among youths below the age of 25 was very alarming and that cyclists and pedestrians were mostly vulnerable to fatal accidents.
Last month, a person died while three others sustained serious injuries when the motorbike they were riding was hit by a speeding Post bus along the Zambezi Chavuma Road.
In June this year, four pedestrians died on the spot along the Luanshya-Mpongwe road after they were hit by a speeding vehicle, while standing by the roads side.
RTSA chief executive officer Zindaba Soko said rural dwellers in Zambia were still vulnerable to road accidents.
Mr Soko said the agency was working with traditional leaders countrywide to increase awareness on roads safety among the rural community.
He said the Agency through the education publicity department had taken advantage of traditional ceremonies by sensitising villagers on road safety related issues.
“We attend all traditional ceremonies countrywide as it is the only time we can meet a magnitude of villagers. During this time, we educate villagers on road safety and distribute educational materials as well as highway codes,” he said.
Mr Soko said the agency had translated the high code into seven local languages to enable all citizens in the country understand road safety regulations in their own language.
He said the agency was working on establishing more centres countrywide where more than 1, 000 people are expected to be employed.
Acting RTSA senior public relations manager Frederick Mubanga said the agency was working on changing the attitude of rural people through massive publicity and education programmes.
Mr Mubanga said 50 per cent of the victims of accidents were pedestrians and cyclists in rural areas.
“We are going round rural areas as well us lobbying traditional leaders so that road safety information is shared among the rural folks. Early this year, we visited chiefs Mpezeni, Kalindawalo, Nzamane in Eastern Province and then went to Chief Mwata Kazembe in Luapula Province and Chief Ishindi and Ndungu in North-western province,” he said.
However,under the framework of the the United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety, Zambia is mandatedd to reduce the number of accidents by 50 per cent by the year 2020.
This can only be done if the country has safer roads, safer vehicles and safer road users in all the areas of the country.
It is only hoped that efforts by Government and other stakeholders would bear long term fruits in the area of addressing high levels of RTAs.
Otherwise, it is upon all Zambians to rally behind relevant authorities in addressing the RTA ‘epidemic’.