Head-on crash near Zimba: what this tragedy tells us about Zambia’s busiest southern highway

Zambia Road Safety Trust | 21 October 2026

The Zambia Road Safety Trust extends its condolences to the families and friends of Richard Gill and James Mynaugh, both aged 67, citizens of the United States, who died on Tuesday evening near Zimba. We also wish a full recovery to the Zambians injured in the same crash, most of them from Livingstone, who are being treated at Livingstone University Teaching Hospital.

What happened

According to Southern Province Police Commanding Officer Moono Namalongo, the crash happened at about 17:40 on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, at Sky Layby, about 10 kilometres south of Zimba. A Hino Ranger truck travelling north collided head-on with a southbound Toyota Fortuner. The two men were passengers in the Fortuner and died at the scene. Police say both drivers and several passengers were injured, including one man with a fractured thigh.

Preliminary police findings suggest the truck driver tried to overtake while going uphill, where the road ahead could not be seen. These findings are not final, and the investigation is continuing.

This was not an isolated event

The crash happened on the T1, the Lusaka to Livingstone road. The T1 carries freight from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, buses between Lusaka and Livingstone, and visitors to Victoria Falls. For most of its 430 kilometres it is a single lane in each direction, with no barrier between opposing traffic. On a road like this, an overtaking mistake on a hill leaves no room to recover.

The same stretch has seen this before. In March 2026, eight people died near Kalomo when a church minibus travelling from Livingstone to Lusaka collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle. In June 2023, five people died near Zimba when a copper truck and a car collided at dusk.

The national figures point the same way. Zambia Police recorded 859 road deaths between July and September 2026, 14% more than a year earlier. Recorded crashes in Southern Province rose from 571 to 698, an increase of 22%. Misjudging clearance distance (1,897 crashes) and cutting in (1,231) are among the leading causes police record. Both often involve overtaking.

Why “be careful when overtaking” is not enough

The police appeal is right, and drivers must hear it. But people misjudge distances, especially late in the day, behind a slow truck, on a climb. A safe road is designed so that a single mistake does not kill. On undivided highways, the countries that have cut head-on deaths did it with engineering and enforcement, not appeals alone:

• Overtaking and climbing lanes on long uphill sections, so slower trucks can be passed safely.
• Centre-line rumble strips and no-overtaking markings that are enforced on hills and bends with poor sight lines.
• Heavy vehicle operator standards: driver hours, training and in-vehicle monitoring for trucks such as the Hino Ranger.
• Faster post-crash care along the corridor, so that injured people reach treatment within the first hour.

What ZRST is asking for

1. A road safety review of the T1 between Choma and Livingstone, starting with the gradients and overtaking points where head-on crashes cluster. RTSA and the Road Development Agency could lead it, with ZRST’s iRAP-accredited road assessors offering support.
2. Enforced no-overtaking zones on hills and blind sections, with visible patrols during the festive season.
3. Fleet safety requirements for commercial vehicle operators using the corridor.
4. Publication of the final investigation findings for this crash, so that lessons are shared, not filed.

“These two men came to Zambia and should have gone home,” says Daniel Mwamba, Executive Director of ZRST. “So should every Zambian who dies on the T1, and we don’t usually read their names in the press. I’m not sure another warning about overtaking will change much on its own. The road has to forgive the mistake.”

Read ZRST’s analysis of 2025 to 2026 police crash data: Road deaths are rising because crashes are rising, and enforcement has not kept up

Photo: a two-lane trunk road in Zambia (ZRST file photo). Not the scene of this crash.