Road Safety Education
Road safety education that supports safer systems
The Zambia Road Safety Trust delivers practical road safety education for learners, teachers, school traffic wardens, motorcycle riders, drivers, fleet staff, communities and public institutions. Education is most useful when it is linked to lower speeds, safe crossings, road design, enforcement, protective equipment, employer controls and monitoring.
Why investment is needed
Road safety education in Zambia must respond to real exposure
Road crashes affect families, schools, health services, employers and the wider economy. Children walking to school, pedestrians using roads without protected space, motorcycle riders and workers travelling for their jobs need practical knowledge, but they also need safer conditions in which to apply it.
ZRST education approach
Practical learning tied to responsibility and place
Practical learning
Sessions use crossing drills, demonstrations, route-risk discussion, observation and examples drawn from the participant’s daily travel or work.
Education linked to the road environment
School education can be connected to approved crossings, signs, road markings, visibility measures and traffic-calming work.
Training people with responsibility
ZRST works with teachers, wardens, employers, riders, drivers, fleet staff, councils and public institutions, not only individual road users.
Follow-up and evidence
Programmes may use attendance records, knowledge checks, practical observation, participant feedback, site records and follow-up visits.
Who ZRST works with
Education designed around the road user and their role
School learners
Age-appropriate crossing, visibility, hazard awareness and safer journey-to-school activities.
Teachers and school managers
Support for school safety planning, learner supervision, clubs and reporting of road risks.
School traffic wardens
Practical instruction on crossing supervision, visibility, positioning, communication and personal safety.
Motorcycle and delivery riders
Helmet use, observation, braking, road position, speed, fatigue, visibility and employer expectations.
Drivers and fleet staff
Defensive driving, speed choice, journey risk, incident reporting and responsibility around pedestrians.
Employers and transport operators
Driver and rider standards, induction, supervision, route risk and review of incidents and near misses.
Government and local authorities
Training and stakeholder engagement linked to speed management, school zones and local road safety duties.
Parents and communities
Local risk identification, school-route support, public engagement and protection of people walking.
Evidence of delivery
Selected ZRST road safety education experience
UNDP and UN Road Safety Fund school work
ZRST supported school-zone interventions in Lusaka that combined infrastructure measures with school and traffic-w arden engagement. UNDP reported that the work aimed to reduce speeding and separate learners from traffic around selected schools.
VIA school road safety programme
With support connected to the TotalEnergies Foundation VIA programme, ZRST has delivered road safety learning activities for participating schools, including practical messages for children travelling on foot.
Puma-supported school activities
ZRST has worked with Puma Energy on school road safety activities combining learner engagement with visible school-zone measures at selected schools.
Yango–ZRST Safe School Zones
The 2025 project covered five Lusaka schools and combined infrastructure, learner education and school-based safety structures. Reported results should be read within the limits of the project’s baseline and endline design.
Motorcycle rider training
ZRST delivered motorcycle rider safety training for Zambia Breweries riders, addressing protective equipment, observation, road position and defensive riding.
Research and professional learning
Through AfroSAFE and TRANS-SAFE, ZRST has contributed to courses, workshops, local stakeholder work and the exchange of Safe System methods for African road safety practice.
External confirmation
Independent evidence and partner confirmation
External programme and partner sources confirm ZRST’s participation in school safety, research, training and urban mobility work.
- UNDP Zambia: Improving road safety by reducing speeding around schools in Lusaka
- European Commission CORDIS: AfroSAFE project and Zambia Road Safety Trust participation
- TRANS-SAFE: Lusaka walkability assessment led locally by Zambia Road Safety Trust
- ICTCT and AfroSAFE: 2026 conference organised with UNZA and Zambia Road Safety Trust
- UNDP Zambia: Road Safety in Zambia Investment Case
Donor-ready programmes
What a donor can fund
School education and safety clubs
Structured sessions, learner materials, teacher guides, practical drills, clubs and follow-up activities.
Teacher and warden training
Training manuals, practical instruction, visibility equipment where justified, assessments and school support visits.
Motorcycle and delivery-rider safety
Defensive riding clinics, employer guidance, protective-equipment standards and incident-reporting tools.
Fleet and workplace road safety
Driver briefings, route-risk work, induction materials, supervisor training and fleet safety reviews.
Community pedestrian safety
Route-risk assessments, safe-crossing education, public engagement and support for local safety action.
Training-of-trainers
Trainer preparation, standard lesson plans, practical assessment, delivery observation and quality review.
Public education campaigns
Evidence-based messages, community sessions, media content and activities linked to specific road risks.
Materials and toolkits
Locally relevant learner resources, trainer manuals, checklists, display materials and institutional guidance.
Monitoring and evaluation
Baseline checks, participant records, practical observation, follow-up, reporting and documented lessons.
A Safe System position
Donors should not fund awareness alone
One-off talks may increase short-term knowledge but rarely remove the risks people face on the road. Education must not transfer responsibility from road authorities, employers or vehicle operators to children and individual road users.
ZRST therefore seeks to connect education with lower speeds, safe infrastructure, enforcement, protective equipment, vehicle and fleet standards, or organisational controls. Attendance figures show reach; they do not prove safer behaviour or reduced casualties.
Monitoring and accountability
Documenting what was delivered and what changed
Delivery records
Approved work plans, participant profiles, attendance, training materials, photographs with appropriate consent, site records and narrative and financial reporting.
Learning checks
Pre-training and post-training questions, practical demonstrations, observation of skills and feedback from schools, employers or participating institutions.
Follow-up
Where funded, follow-up visits can assess whether knowledge, safety structures and operating practices remain in use.
Evidence limits
ZRST distinguishes between participants reached, knowledge gained, behaviour observed and long-term casualty outcomes. Claims are limited to what the evaluation design can support.
Programme gallery
Road safety education in practice
Partnership and due diligence
A local education and implementation partner
ZRST can work as:
- a grant recipient;
- a local implementation partner;
- a consortium member;
- a training partner;
- a stakeholder-engagement partner; and
- a monitoring and local evidence partner.
During a serious funding discussion, ZRST can provide relevant institutional documentation, including registration and governance records, audited financial statements, project reports, work plans, budgets, safeguarding policies, training records, partner references and monitoring evidence, where available and appropriate.
Fund road safety education that is practical, locally grounded and linked to safer roads, responsible institutions and measurable delivery.