Drivers welcome RTSA’s call for life saving skills training

An association for drivers has commended the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) for directing driving schools to include life saving skills in their courses.

Public and Private Drivers Association of Zambia (PPDAZ) president Josiah Majuru said the inclusion of life saving skills component in the driving course should not be restricted to drivers only but also be extended to bus conductors and traffic police officers.

He explained that many times traffic police officers arrive early at an accident scene but fail to serve victims because they lack basic live saving skills.

Mr. Majuru told Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Lusaka today that more lives will be saved if traffic police officers and bus conductors were trained in life saving skills.

He said his association fully supports the directive by RTSA which instructs driving schools to include a course in life saving skills before one obtains a valid driver’s license.

Mr. Majuru said some lives would have been saved if most of the drivers and traffic police officers who were at the scene of the Chibombo Post bus accident had life saving skills.

He said although most buses and light vehicles have first aid boxes, their drivers have no knowledge of how to use the kits.