Traffic accidents what is the solution?

•POWER Tools is one bus operator who has agreed to have their buses fitted with GPS

By HARBGUY MWAMBAZI –

INCREASE in road traffic accidents in the recent past in various parts of the country has drawn concerns as to whether enough is being done to minimize the carnage on the roads.
The recent burning of over 30 people in a Scania bus that was involved in an accident on the Pedicle Road is yet another indication that deaths caused by road traffic crashes are still worrisome.
It is not easy to forget about such road crashes. But many people would love to know what is being done to improve the safety of travellers on the roads.
What exactly are authorities doing to minimize or even possibly stop the fatalities?
Some people have apportioned blame on the Road Transport Safety Agency (RTSA).
The organisation is often blamed for what some people say is failure of the organisation to sufficiently exercise authority in meeting its own objectives.
But other people have concluded that not enough work is being done to ensure road users, especially public service bus drivers and their
counterparts who drive trucks, follow traffic rules.
In 2006, the Ministry of Communications and Transport approved a statutory instrument which required that public service buses be fitted with speed limiters for every vehicle covering a distance of 50kilometres or more.
Despite this development, fatal road accidents involving public service vehicles have occurred and findings have showed that the vehicles involved in the crashes were over speeding at the time the crashes occurred.
This has made the RTSA to launch a new system that will help them curb the rampant road traffic accidents that continue to happen from timem to time.
RTSA Senior Public Relations Manager Freddy Mubanga said a new statutory instrument on Global Positioning System (GPS) device is being formulated to regulate road users.
He said the initiative was launched to counter the problem of road traffic crashes.
“The newly introduced GPS initiative will prove to be effective mainly
because it comes with a tracker that is fixed on to a vehicle, be it a truck, bus, vans, and motor cycle,” he said.
Mr Mubanga said that the tracker will be directly linked and interfaced with the RTSA main control center.
He said with its functionality, the tracker will allow for the monitoring of the speed on a particular vehicle.
“Once the tracker is fixed, it allows for the monitoring of speed on that particular car. The controllers at the main center can immediately call a particular driver and kindly ask them to reduce their speed if they are going over the speed limit.
“If the driver does not comply with our warning, then we can turn off the engine of that vehicle through the tracker system,” he said.
But good as this may sound, some people may doubt whether bus company owners will agree to install this gadget on their vehicles.
Mr Mubanga revealed that RSTA has been holding preparatory meetings with the owners of the main bus companies who have agreed to go along with the idea which is aimed at saving lives.
“It is good to note that most of the owners of the main bus companies such as Mahzandu, Kondwani, Euro, Power Tools and many others have come on board and agreed to have their motor vehicles fitted with GPS.
“Many of the owners agreed to the arrangement not only because they want to see their buses driven correctly, but also to save lives by safely ferrying people to their respective destinations,” he said.
Mr Mubanga also said breathalyzers have already been purchased and are being used at the Lusaka Inter-City Bus Terminus where drivers are checked as buses start off.
He said the main challenge is to ensure that patrols are increased across the nation to increase vigilance and adhe ence to traffic rules and regulation.
Patrick Phiri, 35, a resident of Kabulonga in Lusaka argued that once a driver is tested for alcohol at the main terminus, there is nothing that can prevent such a driver from consuming alcohol outside the terminus.
“It is good to see that RTSA bought these breathalyzers in order to test all road users if consumption of alcohol is present. However, a lot has to be done because once a driver is tested at the main bus terminus, they will have freedom once on the journey and help themselves to alcohol,” he said.
Alcohol consumption by drivers is something that is of great concern.
According to Doctor Tasila Peters, alcohol is not good for anyone driving a motor vehicle, especially public passenger bus.
“Alcohol is not conducive for a bus driver mainly because it impairs the mind of the individual that’s driving and as a result influences bad decision making. For bus drivers, alcohol is not a good idea mainly because such drivers ferry large numbers of people from one place to another,” she said.
Dr Peters said alcohol does not help drivers to be alert as some people might claim. She warned that in fact, alcohol can cause a driver to doze off and that can result in an accident. She said alcohol consumption is a dismissible offence once any bus driver is found wanting.
Dr Peters said many drivers resorted to alcohol consumption because they have little time to sleep. The drivers work long hours in order to meet their cashing targets.
“When you sleep less, you don’t recover fully, and many bus drivers will resort to alcohol because of low sleep.
“However, for a normal human being, it is advised to sleep six to eight hours per day in order to work at optimum capacity which helps for one to be alert,” she said.
Kelvin Sampa, 60, a resident in Ten Miles, said back in the days when he made regular trips to his village, bus drivers would stop half way through the journey once it was dark.
“Back in my time, during Dr Kaunda’s regime, buses use to stop once the driver saw that it was getting dark.
“When we made trips to the village, for example, when going to Mpulungu, once the driver saw that he was tired and it was night time, he would park the vehicle and we would sleep, and start of early in the morning the next day. In this way, accidents were minimized on the road because the driver had enough rest,” he said.
Mr Sampa said inspectors were randomly stationed at various points to ensure that drivers were well enough to drive.
“In that time, we had a lot of random inspectors who stationed themselves at various points along all the main bus routes. These inspectors would just ensure that the driver has the right license and whether he was in a good state to carry on with the driving. But nowadays we have none of the kind who thoroughly do that,” he said.
Mishek Sakala, 28, who is also of Ten Miles blamed the many road traffic accidents on the way bus drivers get employed by various companies.
He said the employment procedure does not allow for testing of competence in driving.
“Most of the time we see a lot of these drivers who drive big buses.
But we need to ask ourselves if there is an arrangement for getting them retested when they are looking for employment as a driver.
“It should be the goal of any bus company to make sure that drivers are retested before they are given the job,” he said.
The RTSA spokesperson also said the Government will be introducing a law to allow PSV drivers not to move at night.
“This will also allow the drivers to have enough rest and prevent accidents as a result of fatigue,” he said.
He further said RTSA has put up provisions that requires bus companies to test any driver they employ.
“There’s a system that requires all bus drivers to renew their
licenses on a yearly basis. Modalities are that when they are renewing the license, there should be proof of a test previously to show that their renewal was genuine.
“The key here is not only to mark the competence of their driving, but to also remind themselves of the regular traffic rules crucial for road safety. These measures are very useful to bus companies,” he said.
Another mechanism has been set up in conjunction with the Taxi and Bus Association of Zambia to better monitor operations and job history of drivers.
“This is for the monitoring and keeping records on all bus drivers and where they have worked before. These records will help us to monitor the movements of drivers and how they change jobs. This will also help us eliminate drivers with a dangerous history,” he said.
If a driver is dismissed from work for flouting the conditions of road safety, then that background will be recorded so that another bus company can be cautious before employing such individuals.
Victor Mudenda, 40, a resident in Chilenje Township in Lusaka expressed concern over RTSA’s failure to penalise bus drivers and companies whose buses have a history of being involved in road crashes.
“RTSA said that they will be suspending licenses of the drivers as well as their companies once it is found that such drivers and companies are careless. But most of us do not even know whether RTSA is working hard in that area to punish these guys,” he said.
But according to Mr Mubanga, the law demands that any driver who ignores traffic rules and regulations on the road should be suspension.
“Act II 2002, Section 108, states that any driver flouting the conditions of RTSA, whose activities are a danger to the public, may have his or her licence revoked, and suspended,” he said.
When asked on how many bus drivers have had their licenses suspended, or punished as a result of careless driving, Mr Mubanga disclosed that a number of erring drivers had been penalised although he was unable to say how many.
The RTSA has, in conjunction with judiciary, introduced fast track courts to curb careless driving.
But although the courts have helped instill some levels of behavioral change among motorist, the change has not been to the desired levels.
However, increased road traffic enforcement officera in all the major high ways, coupled with other interventions being mooted by the Government and its stakeholder, is what will bring sanity on the Zambian roads and reduce the carnage.