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Muchinga Province Minister Gerry Chanda has urged the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to find ways of limiting motor vehicle speed in order to curb road traffic accidents.
Colonel Chanda said enforcing speed limits on public service vehicles (PSV) would guarantee safety on roads.
He expressed worry over increasing road traffic accidents both on the highways and smaller roads in the districts particularly in Mpika.
He noted that the increase in road traffic accidents was a sign that people should to know how to observe traffic rules especially that the Great-North road passes through villages.
Col. Chanda was speaking in Mpika yesterday in a speech read on his behalf by Mpika District Administrative officer, Kaweme Mumbi at the Remembrance Day for the departed souls due to Road traffic accidents.
The Remembrance Day was held at Mpika Boys secondary school with the theme, ‘There is need to investigate ways of reducing motor vehicle speed as a champion towards safer roads’.
The minister said although road traffic crashes were a global concern particularly in developing countries such as Zambia, RTSA has a noble task of sensitising pedestrians and drivers to observe traffic rules.
He added that the high number of fatal accidents call for local and global interventions to reduce the crashes to 50 percent by 2020.
Col. Chanda acknowledged the fact that RTSA was working very hard to ensure that vehicles coming into the country were thoroughly examined and certified fit to be on the roads.
He pointed out that the senior road traffic inspector in the Province should intensify sensitisation on road safety so that motorists can know what their speed limits.
And senior road traffic inspector for Muchinga and Northern regions, Rodgers Nkandu said RTSA was working hard to safeguard lives of people using the roads.
Mr. Nkandu said in a speech read for him by road traffic inspector, Collins Luhanga that Zambia has an opportunity to reduce the number of road traffic accidents to 50 percent by the year 2020 under the global plan for the decade of action.
He said the global provides for a framework for governments, civil society and private sector to improve road safety management, educate drivers, passengers and pedestrians on safe behaviour on the road.
He added that the global plan focuses on the big risks, including speeding, drinking and driving, inattention while using mobile devices, and failing to use seat-belts, helmets and child restraints.
This year’s theme was ‘from global remembrance to global action across the decade: speed kills-design out speeding, let’s make 2011-2020 a decade to remember’.
