Research & Publications
ZRST contributes Zambian evidence to international road safety science. Our team takes part in European research consortia, co-authors peer-reviewed papers, and produces field studies on school-zone safety, pedestrian protection and the Safe System in Africa.
As an operational road safety NGO, ZRST does not only deliver programmes, it generates and publishes evidence. Our staff are co-authors in peer-reviewed journals, partners in two European Union Horizon Europe research projects, and contributors to national and regional studies. This page lists our research projects and the publications our team has co-authored, with links to the open-access papers.
Research projects
AfroSAFE — Safe System for radical improvement of road safety in low- and middle-income African countries
EU Horizon Europe research project (Grant No. 101069500, 2022–2026, ~€4 million) across Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania, coordinated by Lund University. ZRST is the Zambian partner, leading project activities in Zambia and contributing data, fieldwork and co-authorship to the project’s scientific outputs. ZRST hosted the 3rd AfroSAFE International Road Safety Conference at the University of Zambia (2026).
Project (EU CORDIS) AfroSAFE AcademyTRANS-SAFE — Transforming Road Safety in Africa
EU Horizon Europe project (Grant No. 101069525) building Safe System capacity across African cities. ZRST led the Lusaka living lab, a Safe System intervention across 15 high-risk school zones, and contributes to project deliverables on national road safety and active mobility. Results were presented at the 2026 AfroSAFE Conference (see Conference papers).
Lusaka demo projectDigital Transport for Africa / WRI — Zambia Flexible Research Fund
Research collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Digital Transport for Africa initiative, funded through the Zambia Flexible Research Fund (awarded 2022), applying data and GIS methods to transport and road safety in Lusaka.
COMESA Truck Rest Hub Network — pre-feasibility & concept-validation study (in progress)
ZRST is preparing a pre-feasibility and concept-validation study for a truck rest-hub network along the Zambian sections of the North–South and Tanzam corridors, addressing fatigue, freight safety and roadside risk on regional corridors.
Road Safety Impact Assessment (RSIA) pilot & Road Safety Audit training
With Lund University, ZRST is piloting Road Safety Impact Assessment in Zambia and supported Road Safety Audit training with the Road Development Agency (2025), strengthening national capacity in evidence-based road design.
High Volume Transport (HVT) research — University of York & Stockholm Environment Institute
ZRST served as the Zambian research partner for fieldwork under the UK-funded High Volume Transport applied research programme and related Low-Carbon Transport Futures work with the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York (Gary Haq, Steve Cinderby), running stakeholder interviews and focus groups in Lusaka (2020–2023).
STEGA project — De Montfort University (UK)
Research and public-engagement collaboration with De Montfort University, Leicester, delivering road safety engagement activities in Zambia under the STEGA project (2020–2021).
ZRST–University of Zambia (UNZA) research framework
A formal research collaboration framework with the University of Zambia, supporting joint studies, student involvement and a Zambian evidence base for road safety. ZRST also co-hosts the AfroSAFE Academy and conference activities with UNZA.
Peer-reviewed publications (ZRST co-authored)
A six-country study (Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia; Norway, Netherlands, Sweden) drawing on focus groups, fieldwork and surveys of more than 1,800 pedestrians. It finds that pedestrian safety in the African countries depends not only on Safe System infrastructure but also on cultural factors such as the social status of pedestrians — so policy must address both.
DOI: 10.55329/fqxm8031 Download PDF Article pageBased on surveys of 3,772 drivers and pedestrians plus interviews and fieldwork across the same six countries. It identifies fatalistic beliefs about road safety and the low social value placed on walking as the biggest culture gaps between the African and European countries, and links fatalistic beliefs to violations and crash involvement.
DOI: 10.55329/bbmj5348 Download PDF Article pageConference papers
Presents measured before-and-after results from ZRST’s 15-site Lusaka living lab: vehicle speeds down more than 30%, unsafe road-crossing by pupils down 20%, road-safety knowledge up about 80% among 24,000+ pupils, and all 15 school zones reaching a 3-star iRAP pedestrian rating.
Download paper (PDF) ConferenceProject research deliverables
Public deliverables from the EU research projects ZRST contributes to. Authorship is consortium-level; ZRST contributed Zambian data and fieldwork.
| Project Deliverable | Project | Year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| D5.2 — Mapping of Road Safety Culture | AfroSAFE | 2024 | via AfroSAFE / Lund University |
| D5.3 — Human factors and accident causation in selected African countries | AfroSAFE | 2024 | via AfroSAFE / Lund University |
| D1.1 — Project Plan | AfroSAFE | 2022 | |
| Lusaka living-lab / Safer Journeys to School (WP4) | TRANS-SAFE | 2024–26 | Project Deliverable |
Case studies & studies featuring ZRST’s work
A US research centre documented ZRST’s Lusaka school-zone work as a success case — independent recognition of the model’s results and influence.
Related studies ZRST contributed to or informs
Road Safety in Zambia — Investment Case (UNDP Zambia, 2023). ZRST’s school-zone and vulnerable-road-user work aligns with, and informs the practical case for, the national Investment Case, which estimates road crashes cost Zambia about US$700 million a year (~4.7% of GDP). Read the Investment Case.
“Safe system implementation in three African and three European countries: preliminary results” (Transportation Research Procedia, 2025).
Our researchers
Daniel Mwamba — Founder and Director, ZRST. Twelve-plus years in road safety; Safe System / Vision Zero advocacy, speed management, school-area safety and protection of vulnerable road users.
Thomas Miyoba — Research & Partnerships Manager and Director of the Road Traffic Victims Fund; leads AfroSAFE in Zambia. Public health specialist, geographer and GIS expert; peer reviewer for Traffic Safety Research and the Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health; part-time lecturer, University of Zambia School of Public Health (ORCID 0000-0002-9507-2490).
Chilekwa O’Brien — Research & Evaluation; lead author of the Lusaka 15-site school-zone results.