PARLIAMENT yesterday heard that the influx of old second-hand vehicles and the Government’s decision to allow sale of second hand tyres is a contributing factor to the high number of road accidents in the country.
Presenting the report on the committee of Communications, Transport, Works and Supply, chairperson Ng’andu Magande said that the occurrences of road carnage particularly on highways was worrying.
He said that the committee was of the view that as a measure to reduce road carnage, the Government should stop the sale of second-hand tyres most of which were not genuine.
In 2007, 21, 690 road accidents occurred with 1,266 people killed, while 4,188 were seriously injured. Further, in 2008 19,027 road accidents were reported and 1,238 lives were lost while 3,132 seriously injured.[quote]
“The Government should ban the selling of second hand tyres, this is not a negotiable issue. Let those selling second hand tyres find something to do, “ Mr Magande said.
He also said that it was important that long distance drivers desist from travelling without co drivers as fatigue was one of the causes of road accidents.
Mr Magande said that the Government should put in place laws that would allow long distance drivers to move in pairs.
He said that the committee noted the need for the Government to ban the selling of an alcoholic beverage known as Tujilijili (tota paks) as public vehicle drivers abused them.
Mr Magande said corruption was rife among the motorists because of the exorbitant fees for traffic offences, adding that if corruption was to be reduced, fees for traffic offences should be reduced.
Ndola Central Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Mushili (PF) said accidents were on the increase because of overspeeding particularly by long distance drivers.
Mr Mushili said that there was need to introduce speed limits so that overspeeding drivers could be prosecuted.
In contributing to the debate, Communications and Transport Minister Geoffrey Lungwangwa said that the number of accidents recorded was high because of the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads.
He said that the increase in the number of vehicles was an indication that the economy was growing.
As a remedial measure, he said that driving schools and instructors should be knowledgeable about regulations in the new Highway Code.
Professor Lungwangwa said the new Highway Code would soon be launched, adding that it was important to sensitise motorists and pedestrians on the need to adhere to safety regulations.
[Times of Zambia]
Someone should bring some sanity to Zed. I find it particularly hard to drive in the capital. It’s really scary.
The committee is very on the high fines contributing to corruption and eventually un road worthy vehicles being on the road. It is sad that the so called educated zedians heading these institutions are measuring their success by the amount of money they raise not the quality of the service rendered. Even after raising this money it goes into their pocket as sitting allowances in workshops and seminars whose fruits never benefit the ordinary zedian.
Did not realise Prof Lungwangwa was that dull, surely his contribution on the spate of accidents is pathetic. The uncontrolled importation of old second hand cars, sale of retreaded tyres and poor roads should be of concern to him not to say the number of old cars on the roads is a sign of development in the country.
Speed limiters on the vehicles can help alot, because if drivers exceeds the speed limit the engine just ceases if he ignores the warnings so the use of speed limiters may not even warrant prosecution as one of the honorable member of parliament was saying. The other point which i think is too cardinal to forget is the state of these roads especially leading to the north including the great north road the roads are in a bad state.
it’s all about planning and investment in our road sector. we need lane markings, road signs, street lights and alternative means of transport. heavy goods should not be transported by road, they create potholes, and a lot of stationary broken down trucks cause accidents. if we had a developed rail system people and heavy goods would not have to congest our roads. now that they know traffic fines are high it’ll take them another 2 years to work on reducing them. we’ll also continue to watch hundreds of new cars come on the road without expanding the road network. lets act and not just talk
While hon Magande is right in some aspects, I differ with him on the issue of second hand vehicles, I also differ with Mushili on the number of vehicles on the road. Problem no 1) Poor regulation in issuing of driving licences. Some licence holders have never even had an experience of a driving school. In Zambia, you can commit a trafic offence and nothing happens to your licence. 2) The road design can no longer accomodate the volume of vehicles causing congestion and lawlessness. So curbing road accidents calls for a closer look to many other factors that affect smooth flow of traffic be it on high ways or in the city roads.
Bad roads and bad tyres is a lethal combination. On the other hand, I’m sure most of the people in Zambia cannot afford new tyres every season – even here, a lot of people economize on tyres since they’re quite costly.
ON: “In contributing to the debate, Communications and Transport Minister Geoffrey Lungwangwa said that the number of accidents recorded was high because of the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads.”
This is not the real cause of accidents Mr Minister.
Even if every Zambian had a car, there should be no accidents on our roads.
dunlop sold what do you expect.stop crying politicians fade up with old gaurds now its zamtel sale.petty politics no forecast planning next day it will be sale victoria falls.shame cursed zed politicians
Did you realise that in Zambia a traffic officer gets offended if a motorist obeys the rules? They are not concerned about your safety but your pocket as if it is theirs.
Its a pity that so many lives are been lost on the Zambia roads. I agree with mr magande concerning the ban of selling 2nd hand tyres because most of them are not genuine. Take a look at the tyres sold at Main Market in ndola. another contributing fastor is that most of Zambian drivers who have licences have not been to the driving school, most of these guys are mini bus drivers.there is too much corruption when it comes to get a licence in Zambia. Govt should also work on the high ways, pot holes on these roads have also played a major role where accidents are concern on the Zambian roads. e.g Zimba Livingstone road.
Did the police or accident investigators establish what caused each of the quoted accidents. Looks like MPs where speaking from without. They dont seem to have the facts. Discussions like that often lead to nothing as no action can be taken when there are no facts to address specifically.
Let’s improve the quality of parliamentary discussions. The aim should be to take action, not just to talk. People are dying, something must be done to stop that, immediately.
Cancel road accidents
Cancel road accidents not hard to do because a similar system currently works in the agricultural sector.
Agricultural system is more complex than necessary to the traffic system.
So you can run the traffic system immediately.
I’m talking about using Precision Farming for Precision Traffic.
Mathematical examination of the passage shows that the Precision traffic less complex than Precision Agriculture from the known rule that in the surface there are infinite lines.
The Precision traffic system educates and instills a driving culture.
Precision traffic system reduces the time length of learning in dimensions of months.
Form of education in the proposed system is similar to addition of hundreds of thousands of traffic policemen.
The system works on the…