Government has announced that no public service vehicle whether passenger or goods, will be allowed to operate between 21 and 05:00hrs effective 27th November 2016.
Transport and communications Minister Brian Mushimba announced this during a news briefing in Lusaka this afternoon.
Mr Mushimba said this follows the increase in PSV accidents, with 55% accidents happening at night and 45% during the day.
He said road users have therefore been encouraged to obtain a copy of the Statutory Instrument (SI) number 76 of 2016.
Mr. Mushimba also urged the private sector to invest in truck parking infrastructure and overnight bus stops with internationally acceptable standards.
Good idea for as long as traffic police co-operate rather than see this as an opportunity to make money.
Well stated.
Now curfew in Zambia. Not even taking so many sick people to hospital?
Does this also apply to PF cadres will stop going to dance for president at airport at night?
This is completely ridiculous and is meant to make up for the incompetence of the government in Zambia. Many developed countries have their passenger buses and cargo trucks running all night long. Unless you’re telling me that Zambia has more drivers with poor night vision than say, the USA. You can encourage drivers to rest if they feel tired, instead of arbitrarily banning them from driving at night. The main problem is government’s failure to implement simple measures that would improve road safety in Zambia. Too many people driving commercial vehicles without proper qualifications. They either have no commercial licenses at all or they obtained it corruptly. The government needs to clamp down hard on this, by making sure that if anyone is found driving a commercial vehicle with…
(Continue)… no license, or it’s discovered that the license was fraudulently obtained, they should face prison time, a minimum of one year, and his employer heavily fined. If they cause an accident and people die, they should be either charged with manslaughter, or given a 15 year minimum prison time, and their employers held criminally accountable. Also have highway patrol distributed throughout the country on every major highway, to check on speeding vehicles, and randomly check on commercial vehicles. Develop a system for the highway patrol to quickly check someone’s license with headquarters to find out whether it’s genuine or not. If it’s found out to be fake, the driver should be arrested right there and vehicle impounded. But for this to work, you would have to tackle…
(Continued)… corruption first, because we assume that the license issuers will obey the law and not give out licenses fraudulently. And also that the police will say no to a bribe and choose to be honest and decent and follow the rule of law, in order to save lives. Banning commercial vehicles to travel at night will only make congestion during the day worse, and will lead to slow deliveries of goods and services, and will become an impediment to economic growth and the country’s development.
@Lie-Detector, this is verbose but very little substance. If I were you I would talk about improving the roads (surface and width, dual/multi carriage), lighting throughout the highways, cameras to capture overspeeding, speed limiter on PSVs (tried but failed?), ban on second hand tyres e.t.c. and not just drivers’ licenses and whether they were fraudulently obtained or not…
I salute you on highway patrols.
There you have it!
Never heard of this guy!
Information is king. Go to national assembly website and check cabinet ministers.
That is a Minister and half, not those illiterates like Kambwili. Brian is a big former CEO of big conglorometes, in SA and Uganda I think. Well educated as well.
@We are all…
You wouldn’t, because Brian is not in your league. As CAS has said, and just to add, Brian is a former Mpelembe boy, obtained his degrees in the USA, added his Master’s and held high profile jobs in the US with Siemens and then Lafarge USA before coming to Zambia, Uganda and then went back to the states. He has got investments and businesses in the USA.
No, you would never hear about him! Not in you circles…
@We are all…
One other thing about him, he is very well grounded and down to earth because of his upbringing!
Of course you wouldn’t know him because your notion is that PF is for Kaponyas and because he’s not loud mouthed like your Muna Ndulo and other talkatives
With the coming of Toll Gates, no need of castigating the Traffic Officers for what? The said Statutory instrument 76 is very much attainable with the installation of the Toll Gates to oversee and impound PSV and Goods Trucks after 21hrs. Good move by Gvt.
NOW THIS IS GOOD PLEASE COMING WITH POSITIVE IDEAS.
How can you ban HGVs to travel at night? When thats the best time to transport…and the best way to reduce traffic.
Ubushilu,uchefyeko iwe mambala
Kolwe nechipato. Negative bast.ard.
Obviously you have never lost a loved one in one of these nasty accidents which could have been prevented by enacting such a simple law. Try not to condemn everything. We have lost people in such preventable accidents and for many out there, our lives will never be the same again.
Thanks Hon Minister. But why not with immediate effect? Because between now and Nov 27 we will loose over 100 nationwide in late night driving accidents. This is nothing new drivers of these vehicles know the drill ??
Does this so called minister Mushimba understand economics????.The country’s economy should be running 24/7 in order to grow.This will result in an increase in the cost of running business and too many manhours will be lost.A married person working on the copperbelt after closing from work on a Friday afternoon after 17:00hrs wont travel on a public service vehicle to see the spouse the same day/night.
Why is it that only in Zambia things always move anticlockwise.In reverse gear.I can not travel on a Friday evening from Solwezi to Kitwe to visit my family because no public vehicles and trucks will reach chingola before 21:00hrs with the current state of the art solwezi/chingola road.
LIFE IS TOUGH. WE DONT SLEEP BUT TRAVEL FROM POINT A TO B TO SURVIVE. PLEASE DONT BLOCK US. IT IS NOT A JOKE TO MAKE A LIVING. EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS A RISK. ACCIDENTS WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. NIGHT OR DAY. THINK AGAIN.
Translation:
There will be massive traffic Jams during the hours of 5am to 21hrs
There was an article on how Insurance companies can help reduce traffic accidents, powers at be need to explore that some more. They need to think on the following lines
1. Require all public transportation to have liability insurance to cover all victims (INCREASE RESPONSIBILITY)
2. If a driver is driving drunk no policy benefits will be paid – (REDUCES DRUNK DRIVING)
3. If driver was going over the speed limit when accident occurs, no policy will be paid (REDUCE OVER SPEEDING)
e.t.c
We need to change the culture of irresponsible driving that exists. It will take time but government needs to put regulation in place otherwise this crap will continue.
You are absolutely spot on!!
Great move in the short term as other measures targetted at the root causes of the accidents is being addressed. Thank you minister Mushimba.
45% day and 55% night time accidents and all RTSA can think of is to come up with an SI to ban night travel.
my take is that we need more reinforcement of traffic regulations, road furniture which regulates speed limits and corrupt free road enforcers.
45% accidents during the day is quite high, but as i have stated do we have correct road furniture like visible and reflective speed limits etc, answer is there is quite a few and on some roads none existent.
Motorists will notice that police or indeed even RTSA will mount a road block on an area or section of road where the speed limit is not visible to Motorists and one wonders weather the issue is to collect money from Motorists or to ensure motorists observe speed limits and follow road signs.
as long as our way of looking and…
as long as our way of looking at things within the box and thinking within the box and not outside the box we will not progress.
There are so many road traffic experts etc who will wonder at the way we have looked at this.
accidents will increase by 65% during the day as long as we enforce traffic regulations within the box
I agree. Enforcing traffic laws is the surest way to curb accidents. Not this lunatic way of controlling traffic. It’s true the average Zambian driver is a bad one who cruises at top speed even on sharp bends. Many visitors to Zambia complain about this driving recklessness. I have read travel books that warn potential visitors to Zambia to travel at night when it’s safer.
The motive is excellent but the minister should have given us the absolute figures and the total number of casualties for both day and night. To say 45% of the accidents happen during the day is not enough as this may represent 85% of the morbidity. The traffic jam will be unbearable and will result in worse fatalities. its worth trying and hope government will take statistics of the results. Small private cars may need another rule as they will now become an alternative for nyt travellers. drivers should be sensitised not to race against time between 19 and 21 hrs. these could be the most dangerous hours. Govt is not sleeping – we thank you.
A factor that adds to accidents is the type of roads between cities (of course apart from purchased licences and drunkenness) For example a non dual carriageway road for the most distance between L/stone and Lusaka with very little lighting is already a recipe for those collisions. Its a host of things in the end and an act banning one aspect doesn’t solve the underlying factors. In fact it creates others.
Nothing good can come out of the Nose and other negative people from that negative party.
This total madness and will bring economic hardships to the already burdened citizens.
Instead of bringing in more traffic laws to control drivers and bus operators they ban night travel.
This will not last. You will see a u turn as usual when they realise what damage this causes.
Move retrogressive because in today’s fast world, people should be free to decide the most convenient time to move between places. This will certainly increase on the cost of doing business in Zambia thereby making our country less competitive. What is needed is good road infrastructure with proper road markings. Lack of these is what is making our roads deadly. Note this SI is based only on simple statistics that 55% of accidents occur at night and the rest during the day. Now with all public transport vehicles being forced to move only during the day, the already tight roads will become more congested and the carnage levels will sharpy rise to levels beyond comprehension.
Ati “you have 27 days to submit your bribes to my office”
The problem with Zambians is that every citizen KNOWS everything , u are transport expert, policeman, driver, Thief, Politician, carpenter, electrician, soccer coach, sex master, drunkard, businessman etc the list is endless for every zambian???
Jacks (Jackasses really!) of all trades but masters of none…
WHERE AS THIS DECREE IS WELL INTENDED IT DOES NOT IN ITSELF GUARANTEE THAT OUR ROADS WILL BE SAFER. AS STATED IN EARLIER COMMENTS THIS WILL JUST CREATE CONGESTION IN DAY LIGHT HOURS PLUS DRIVERS WILL JUST ACT IN HASTE TO MAKE CERTAIN THEY COVER GROUND DURING THE TIMES THEY ARE ALLOWED TO OPERATE. THE BETTER IDEA WOULD BE TO HAVE PERMANENT CHECK STATIONS AND VERY STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF SPEED LIMITS. WE COULD HAVE CHECK STATIONS WITH ELECTRONIC TIME STAMPS. IT WILL BE MANDATORY FOR COMERCIAL VEHICLES TO SHOW THIER TIME STAMPS AT EACH STATION AND THESE CAN ALL BE MONITORED BY COMPUTER NETWORKS FROM A CENTRAL LOCATION. EACH MAJOR DISTRICTS WILL HAVE A LOCATION WHERE EACH COMERCIAL VEHICLE HAS TO GO THROUGH AND HAVE THIER LOGS INSPECTED. THEN THE FITNESS CERTIFICATES CHECKED EVERY MONTH. THIS…
…..CERTIFICATES CHECKED EVERY MONTH. THIS CAN ALL BE FUNDED BY THE LICENSE FEES THAT OPERATORS PAY. THOSE FOUND IN VIOLATION WILL NOT ONLY BE SUSPENDED BUT FINED HEAVILY TO DETER VIOLATION. THIS IS ALL VERY ACHIEVABLE AND INEXPENSIVE. ALL WE NEED IS ELECTRONIC LOGGING AND MONITOR IT FROM CENTRAL LOCATION. OFFER MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC CAN GET REWARDS FOR WHISTLE BLOWING. REPORTS ANY VIOLATION AND YOU GET A CUT OF THE FINE IF THE OPERATORS ARE FOUND IN VIOLATION.
OPERATING A COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE WHILE INTOXICATED SHOULD CARRY A MINIMUM PRISON TERM OF 24 MONTHS FOR CARGO AND 5 YEARS FOR ANY PASSENGER COMERCIAL VEHICLE WITH MORETHAN 8 PASSENGERS. IN THE EVENT THAT THERE IS AN ACCIDENT AND IT IS DETERMINED THAT THE OPERATOR WAS INTOXICATED THEY WILL BE CHARGED WITH 3RD DEGREE MURDER OR ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR EACH VICTIMS OR POTENTIAL VICTIMS. THE VEHICLES WILL THEN BE IMPOUNDED PERMANENTLY IF THE OWNER IS THE ONE FOUND IN VIOLATION. IF IT HAPPENS TO BE AN EMPLOYEE THEN THE OWNERS HAVE TO SHOW DUE DELIGENCE BY PROVING THAT THEY SUBJECTED THIER EMPLOYEES TO PERIODIC AND RANDOM TESTS. I REALIZE THAT SOME OF THESE MEASURES MAY SEEM EXTREME BUT ITS TIME TO ACT WE ARE LOSING TOO MANY LIVES BECAUSE OF NEGLIGENCE AND CULPABLE CARELESSNESS. I COMMEND THE…
I COMMEND THE MINISTER FOR TAKING THE FIRST STEPS TOWARDS CURBING THIS HORRIFIC TREND
Well intended measure but in my view not optimal. An adjustment I would have recommended is to extend this constraint to PSV only and do the opposite for trucks moving heavy cargo to only travel at night and not during the day. This is actually already the preference for most long distance truck drivers as they would like to avoid the congestion and heat during the day which is not good for their vehicles either. This is the system in place in Tanzania and seems to work very well. PSV during the day only. Trucks during the night only.
so all taxis must stop at 21hrs????
Read again. You’re able to hire a taxi after 21hrs. What if you arrive in Lusaka at 21hrs and your destination is Woodlands?
Last week I boarded a mini bus from town to Ndeke Village and upon discovering that the bus had no fitness certificate I asked the driver to allow me to get off his bus. To my surprise most of the passengers started rebuking me with all sorts of insulting
They were claiming they were late for one thing or another. I reminded them that if the police impounded this wreck, they just won’t be late but will totally miss whatever appointment they were rushing for.
This is not the best solution. Accidents are due to human error. People should just exercise maximum caution when driving especially at night. We are yet to see if this will help reduce the accidents.
At every busy road junction these PSV licence “holders” display there freedom to break laws.
GOOD MOVE. ENFORCERS SHOULD DO JUST THAT. STOP CORRUPTION IN OUR COUNTRY, IT IS SUFFOCATING US!
apart from accidents beware of HIV/AIDS dont forget this disease it we increase in bus stations find other way pls aids is real
As usual not a well thought out solution. Has anyone looked at the cost of this decision? The reasons y transporters travel at night? Has the ministry engaged all stakeholders in this decision? Is this the best decision given the probabilities? Have u removed the outliers in coming up with the decision? Wat exactly causes more accidents in the night, is it poor vision, drunkenness, fatigue or wat? I honestly don’t think congesting the roads during the day is a solution to reducing accidents.
I wait for a “REVERSE”
By the way The minister found that SI awaiting
‘By the way the minister for that SI waiting’. Your point being?
This is just nonsense man, this whole idea of overreacting to situations is annoying in Zambia…….can these people learn to respond to issues and not just react. Power is good, but is detrimental in the hands of a foolish man…….engage brain before mouthpiece…..that helps!