The Invisible Dead: How Zambia’s Road Crash Data System Fails to Count Young People
Zambia records road deaths and injuries every year, but the current crash data system does not show how many young people aged 17 to 25 are being killed or seriously injured on our roads.
The Zambia Road Safety Trust is calling for urgent reform of Zambia’s national road crash reporting system so that every casualty is recorded by age. Without this, university students, college-going youth, apprentices and young workers remain statistically invisible once they are older than 16.
The Data Gap
Zambia’s national road crash data system, maintained by the Zambia Police Service, separates casualties by age in only one category: children aged 0 to 16. Every road death, serious injury or crash victim aged 17 and above is recorded without age.
This means that a 17-year-old pupil, a 21-year-old university student, a 24-year-old apprentice or a young worker killed on a Zambian road is not visible as part of a youth road mortality pattern. Their death may be counted, but their age cohort disappears from the data.
This is not merely a data quality weakness. It is a data design failure. The current system was not built to see young adults.
Why This Matters
Road traffic injury is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 29 globally, according to the World Health Organization. Yet Zambia currently has no domestic road crash data that can confirm, challenge or explain that pattern for its own young people.
Without full age-disaggregated data for the 17 to 25 age group, Zambia cannot reliably identify whether university corridors, peri-urban roads, boarding-school routes, public transport corridors or specific road types are placing young people at higher risk.
What the 2025 Road Crash Figures Show
| Indicator | 2025 Figure |
|---|---|
| Total recorded road crashes | 38,712 |
| Road deaths | 2,567 |
| Serious injuries | 7,045 |
| Deaths per 100,000 population | 14.0 estimated |
| Deaths among children aged 0–16 | Available |
| Deaths among persons aged 17–25 | Not recorded as a distinct age group |
Source: Zambia Police Service Annual Road Crash Report 2025.
Recent Student Deaths Show the Human Cost
Two recent fatal crashes involving university students, one at Mulungushi University on 3 May 2026 and another at the University of Lusaka on 9 May 2026, show why this issue cannot be treated as a technical footnote.
Both incidents were reported in the national press. Both involved young people whose deaths shocked their communities. Yet under the current national crash data system, their age cohort will not appear as a distinct category in the 2026 annual crash statistics.
— Daniel Mwamba, Founder and Executive Director, Zambia Road Safety Trust
ZRST Position
The Zambia Road Safety Trust calls on the Zambia Police Service, working with the Road Transport and Safety Agency and national statistical authorities, to amend the national road crash reporting framework so that all recorded casualties are age-disaggregated across the full age spectrum.
ZRST recommends that the revised crash reporting framework include specific age bands for:
- 0 to 16 years
- 17 to 25 years
- 26 to 35 years
- 36 to 59 years
- 60 years and above
This reform does not require a new national data system. It requires a revised crash report form and clear guidance for traffic police officers who record crashes at the scene.
ZRST is ready to work with RTSA and the Zambia Police Service to help develop a revised reporting tool and support a pilot data exercise on a defined high-risk corridor.
Recommended Immediate Action
- RTSA and the Zambia Police Service should convene a technical working group on crash data disaggregation by Q3 2026.
- The Ministry of Transport and Logistics should include age-specific crash data reporting in the revised road traffic implementation framework.
- Development partners should require full age-disaggregated crash reporting in road safety sector support.
- ZRST should publish an annual Youth Road Mortality Gap Report from 2027 as a public accountability tool.
A Better Data System Can Save Lives
Zambia cannot reduce youth road deaths that it does not properly count. A stronger crash data system would help government, local authorities, universities, transport operators, development partners and civil society design better road safety measures for young people.
The issue is not abstract. It affects students walking to class, young workers travelling before dawn, apprentices using public transport, and families who deserve to know whether preventable deaths are part of a wider national pattern.
Counting young people properly is the first step toward protecting them properly.