Lusaka, 24th January 2022: The Zambia Road Safety Trust (ZRST), the leading Road Safety NGO, is calling on the government to urgently improve national road safety management, after the police confirmed COVID’s restrictions, lockdowns, and reduced traffic volumes did not stop Zambia’s road toll rising by 27.9 per cent (from 1,690 to 2,163 deaths) in the last 12 months to December 31, 2021.
Lusaka was the province with the largest annual rise in traffic accidents, with 17,774 (recorded accidents), followed by Copperbelt with 5,105, Central with 2,710, and Southern with 1,689.
ZRST Chairman, Daniel Mwamba, said: “Zambia’s worsening road toll reflects poorly on our chaotic national approach to road safety, which has been shown by current lack of clarity and national coordination among government departments and agencies.
“National road trauma data collection and reporting remains shambolic, the new government needs to urgently prioritise this issue”, he said. “At a time when Zambians have daily reporting of COVID infections, hospitalisations, deaths, and vaccinations, nobody knows how many Zambians are injured or killed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis on our roads, let alone the interventions likely to deliver improvements in the future.
“Road trauma has killed more than 15,000 Zambians since 2011; however national data coordination problems continue to thwart evidence-based policy and well-targeted interventions.”
The ZRST continues to call for the government to come up with measurable actions; deadlines; responsibilities; and how they are going to measure success.
Mr. Mwamba said: “Zambia’s data-driven response to COVID shows what’s possible to address public health issues within our government and what our government should aspire to in road safety.”/End
The Zambia Road Safety Trust (ZRST), established in 2014, is a leading registered non-government road safety entity registration no: 101/0503/15. ZRST seeks to create awareness on road safety issues in Zambia and contribute to reduce loss of life and injuries on Zambia’s roads. The Trust is an operational NGO, meaning we plan and carry out boots-on-the-ground projects to accomplish our objectives.
Media Contacts:
Mailos Mwale, Communications Advisor, ZRST
0953736461 mailos.mwale@@zambianroadsafety.org
Daniel Mwamba, Chairman, ZRST
0961475610 daniel.mwamba@zambianroadsafety.org
