Transporters urged to display RTSA numbers
By Times Reporter
STAKEHOLDERS have called on the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to make it mandatory for all public transport vehicles to display the agency’s toll free numbers to facilitate easy communication by passengers in an event where a driver contravenes traffic rules.
Participants at the two-day Global Road Safety Partnership Zambia workshop in Lusaka said it should be compulsory for every public transport vehicle to carry a toll free number to the RTSA.
The calls were made in the wake of the rampant disregard for traffic regulations particularly by Public Service Vehicle (PSV) drivers, which had resulted in fatal road accidents recently.
Toll free numbers in public transport vehicles would enable commuters to be proactive partners in minimising road traffic accidents because they would alert RTSA officers on time.
In a contribution, University of Zambia (UTH) consultant Robert Zulu said toll free numbers would empower passengers to help in reducing the number of road traffic accidents.
Dr Zulu said drivers would also be extra careful in the manner they drove their vehicles knowing that passengers would report them for any careless driving.
Another stakeholder from Emergency Rescue Team (ERT) Andrew Stephenson said road traffic accidents were on the increase because of over speeding especially on highways.
RTSA acting director for road safety Martin Mbangu said RTSA was aware of the importance of toll free numbers in reducing road traffic accidents.
He said the agency had initiated the programe and had approached all the phone providers to have its toll free number but that only Zamtel agreed to have it on its network.
Mr Mbangu said RTSA was still pursuing the matter with other phone providers and expressed optimism that they would agree to the arrangement.
Mr Mbangu also called on passengers to desist from siding with public service vehicle drivers’ whenever they commited an infringement on the road and are accosted by traffic officers.
“At times passengers themselves are to blame because they side with the driver of the bus who has contravened traffic rules and even encourage drivers to flee from the traffic officer,” he said.
