Consult on road safety, Govt told

By CHITE MTONGA

GOVERNMENT should ensure that extensive consultations on matters to do with road safety are carried out, if it is to work towards drastically reducing the number of fatalities on the roads.

Commenting on government’s recent announcement that the statutory ban on night driving for public service vehicles would be lifted, Zambia Road Safety Trust Communications (ZRST) advisor Mailos Mwale said government should engage various stakeholders in making decisions which involved road safety.

He told the Daily Nation in an interview that the lifting of the ban by government was welcome but prior consultations with stakeholders should have been made.

Mr Mwale said the lifting of the ban should only be limited to trucks and goods vehicles as announced by government.

Mr Mwale said buses carried many passengers and allowing night driving would be dangerous as many lives would be at stake.

“We support the move by government to lift the ban on night driving and we feel the reasons being raised are genuine, because indeed there is need to consider the road network as a means of growing the economy.

“Of course goods have to move from one point to the other, for trade to continue and time restrictions have obviously had a negative impact on trade so this is a welcome move,” he said.

Mr Mwale said lifting the ban on night driving of trucks had a positive impact on the economy but the lifting of the ban should not extend to busses.