Lusaka, Zambia | 26 March 2026 | For Immediate Release
The Ban Has Saved Thousands of Lives
The 2016 night travel ban was not an arbitrary restriction. It was a direct response to evidence that 68% of passenger PSV accidents and 55% of goods vehicle accidents in Zambia occurred at night. Peer-reviewed research published in BMC Public Health found that the ban reduced road traffic crashes by 24% and road traffic fatalities by 57.5%. That is thousands of Zambians who are alive today because buses stopped running after 9pm.
Zambia’s Roads Are Getting More Dangerous, Not Less
The 24-hour economy is being proposed into a road safety environment that is deteriorating. ZRST’s monitoring of Zambia Police Service data shows that road deaths increased quarter on quarter throughout 2025, reaching 667 deaths in Q4 alone. Over 200 children lost their lives on Zambia’s roads in 2024.
Fatal crashes are becoming more lethal even as overall accident numbers fluctuate. The infrastructure conditions that made night travel deadly in 2016 — poor road lighting, unlit pedestrians, absent rest stops, and fatigued drivers — remain largely unchanged.
“We are not against a 24-hour economy. Zambia needs growth, and transport is central to that. But we cannot build an economy on the bodies of the people that economy is supposed to serve. The night travel ban works. The evidence is clear. If the government wants to lift it, they must first ensure the conditions that make night travel safe: GPS tracking that actually functions, co-drivers on every long-distance bus, road lighting on every major corridor, and an RTSA that has the resources to enforce the rules. We are asking to be at the table to help design that framework.” — Daniel Mwamba, Executive Director, Zambia Road Safety Trust
Six Preconditions Before Any Lifting
ZRST has published a Policy Analysis Brief setting out six non-negotiable preconditions for any lifting of the ban:
ZRST’s Six Non-Negotiable Preconditions
- Mandatory certified co-driver on all long-distance night PSVs
- Operational GPS speed monitoring linked to RTSA’s control room
- Independent road lighting and condition audit on all included corridors
- Multi-source crash monitoring system established before lifting, with automatic reversion if deaths rise
- Full operator compliance with fleet fitness and crew rest requirements as a condition of night licences
- Demonstrated RTSA enforcement capacity on night corridors before operations begin
What ZRST Is Asking For
ZRST has written formally to the Minister of Transport and Logistics and the Minister of Finance and National Planning requesting a seat on the technical working group reviewing the PSV ban as part of the 24-hour economy rollout.
We call on civil society, the media, road users, and the business community to support a demand for a transparent, evidence-based policy process — one that accounts for the full economic cost of road deaths, not just the commercial benefits of night operations.