His Royal Highness, senior Chief Nsokolo of the Mambwe people in Mbala in Northern Province has appealed to the Government through the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to enforce a law compelling public transporters to travel during the day instead of in the night to avert more deaths arising from road accidents which have claimed more than 100 lives since last year.
In reference to the recent accident which occurred in Chisamba, 15 kilometers from Lusaka involving a tanker and a CV-bus which was travelling from Mpulungu to Lusaka last week and claimed more than four lives, his Royal Highness attributed the tragedy to the fatigue by bus drivers that are forced to move all night without resting.
He noted that most bus operators sought to make money from their crew travelling in the night and later continue during the day.Chief Nsokolo said there is need for Government and RTSA to initiate a deliberate policy in which all public transport will be compelled to travel from early morning and reach their destinations before dusk to allow them to rest for the next day’s trip to various destinations and save lives.
“These accidents can be avoided if the Government changed the law compelling all buses and other public transporters to move from as early as 06.00hrs to 18.00 hrs as this will help reduce road accidents.
Issued by:
Jeff. S. Kapembwa
Senior Chief Nsokolo’s Spokesperson
Ba chief, I thought we all want development. Thats not the way to go. For now we need to petition govt to construct passing lanes in known dangerous areas while they are still working on logistics of constructing highways.Such a project need not take too long.
This is a silly suggestion and counter productive from an economic perspective. We are an underdeveloped country and we need to catch up with the rest of the developed world.
He should propose a law to work 24/7 and lobby BOMA to make the road a dual carriage way with proper lighting . We need to learnt from the Chinese’s work ethics,- ( not wages) that the only way we will develop this lovely country of ours.
Ba Chief tupeniko plan B not iyo plan.
His Highness is spot on ladies and gentlemen. This policy is in force in Tanzania. In TZ, all long distance buses start off at 06.00 hrs and must reach their destinations or park by 22.00 hrs. That is why there are very few deaths involving buses in Tanzania. But next door to Tanzania- in Uganda where this has not been implemented, there is high incidences of bus accidents and a corresponding high death rate. If a scania bus leaves Lusaka at 06.00 am, it can reach Mpulungu or Nakonde of Chipata or Mongu before 18.00 pm and the drivers can take a good rest for the return trip the next day. Driving throughout the night is a recipe for disaster. I am a driver of many years but one thing I have vowed is never to drive throughout the night.
Kuala Lumpur has more than a bus every hour of the night going to all other cities and I have not been hearing of increasing fatalities. It’s not the issue of time, but what those drivers do when they are supposed to be resting thru the day. Some bus operaters just need to have more drivers and not over-work those they have.
Hitting the nail on the head
Why not just have two drivers? One driving to and the other one driving from. Acting as a conductor on the way to and driver on the way from. Final they should have 6-7hrs aleeping time at their destination.. Not going for beer drinking as a way of resting 🙂
There is abudant technology on the market in existance that RATSA can imploy to reduce road accidents, for instance GPS tracking service, Driver fatigue monitors, Breath audit interlock device etc
Government should make it compousory for buses to have Gps tracking system to monitor overspeeding and other violations of public vehicles and introduce serious fines for drivers and transport owners. This way drivers will be tamed
À We mukwai the chief is right. Countries that allow 24hour public transportation usually have electricity lights for the length of the road. What’s stopping Zambian govts from doing this? And Obama has just announced a 700billion dollar plan to get Africa electrified. Pounce on it you chimbwi no planners in lusaka. Utulo!
Yes, it can work but the issue goes beyond what we see right now. RTSA should be well funded in order to be everywhere and with the equipment needed and employ qualified officers responsible for educating the road users in all the District. It is about the effective management of the 3 Es.
yes its true i support the chief coz if the bus start off at 06 00 by 18 00 hrs they can reach lsk,the Gvt should look into that mwela onse
I fully support Chief Nsoloko call for public transport to only move during the day. All major accidents in the last couple of months have been during night time and is the easiest to fix with the law being passed restricting night movement. This solution is more cost effective than most that are being propagated here such as widening roads, new road lanes or 2 drivers per bus. The other aspect that helps a great deal are the street/road lights as then vision is increased as if during the day – alas that is also in the long run. Lets think of preserving life and not maximising profit
The Sinior chief nsokolo was right there are alot of accidents in the night..