The company is providing funding for Stagecoach Driving Instructor Neil Rettie to spend 12 months helping to make driving standards in the African state better as part of Transaid’s Professional Driver Training Project.
Having spent three months in the Lusaka region of Zambia last year during which he trained more than 60 bus and coach drivers, Neil has now set off for a second three-month spell in the country where he will continue to deliver a “Safe and Skilled Driving” course to transport operators.
He will also be working alongside the Zambian Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to help them develop and implement their curriculum.
Neil said: “I’m looking forward to getting back to Zambia. I’ll be working with some of the same companies as previously as well as some new ones, to try and help improve the driving standards of bus and coach operators.
“I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge and it’s a great opportunity for me to share my skills with others. We received very positive feedback the first time round and all the drivers are very keen to learn and to improve their skills.
“It’s so important to ensure that driving standards are high, not only to protect the drivers and their passengers but also to improve the safety of other road users.”
The aim of the project is to address the huge shortage of skilled drivers through improving driver training and safety standards, in order to reduce the number of road crashes which occur in the Lusaka region.
Road crashes are the third highest cause of premature death in Africa after HIV/AIDS and malaria.
In Zambia, the Road Transport and Safety Agency estimates that road accidents cost the country around £167million each year, which equates to around three percent of Zambia’s GDP.
Many accidents can often be attributed to poor driving skills and poor vehicle maintenance which Transaid’s project is trying to address
[STV]
What use is a good bus on a bad road? It would make more sense to develop and maintain the infrastructure first.
Great development teach them etiquette aswell
At this stag is there any need to bring in a foreign expert to teach Zambians how to drive safely. Then there is something wrong with our driving schools and those that issue driving licences. The matter at hand is the attitude of bus crews. Very pathetic. RTSA has a huge mountain to climb.
Never head of this coach service before, Adams coachlines,Greyhound,Horizon west,Maxi charters and integrity lines are the big names in perth.whatever the case, they have definately seen an opportunity somehow somewhere,and this is how they start,next we’ll hear they are taking over InterCity terminus and all the long route services,watch this space. Remember there’s no such thing as FREE lunch
I dont get, what is wrong with our driving schools here? Unless maybe he mentioned etiquette ocz our drivers except the Euro Africa ones have no manners what so ever. The money they are spending on this exercise will be better utilised if its channeled to road rehabilitation.
Its obvious that the majority of bloggers have mixed feelings about this initiative, I included. Im concerned that the action is not sustainable and unless there is a strong focus on building curriculum and the capacity of the staff at RTSA, then it is a waste of money. As others have also mentioned there is little that developing the skills of the drivers will do in reducing road accidents if the road infrastructure itself is not improved. There is insufficient signage, caution notices and lane lines on the roads in Zambia which makes driving on our roads a nightmare. In most developing countries you can set off on a route you have not driven on before and rely only on a map on sat nav to get you where your going. In Zambia if you did the same you will most likely end up in a ditch!!
Good roads are needed first.
# 4….could be perth , Scotland . Stagecoach is big in UK.
# 6…. lol…end up in a ditch!…or even worse.
I have started noticing somethings in Business which are not human minds but behold. Probably this is why Africans use magic.
Our roads are by far different to those Highways of Europe even South Africa. Therefore any good driver from this places is zero here. We have a very good negotiating skills. How to tell there is a pot hole from Hundred meters. This is no joke. This guy will teach otherwise and will be total confusion here
Bushe ni iyi yine Stagecoach tukwelako naku England? The story is poorly written as the author assumes that we all know where this Perth is. It could be in Scotland, for all I care.
Yes this is the Stagecoach that is a very big transport company in the UK. I think they also run some train routes. I do feel that there is something rather condencending and patronising of getting somebody to come and teach us how to drive cars. I think the guy just liked Zambia and has now managed to find somebody to pay for his stay.
First of all give regulations to the owners of buses and mini buses then after to the drivers and co-drivers.
Secondly proper roads are needed, in fact we need dual carriageway or highway from Lusaka to Ndola like one from Ndola to Kitwe.
Smoothcriminal, you are right, I have never heard of them. A Perth based company training how to drive a bus in Zambia. What a joke. Perth itself has a shortage of bus drivers.