By JAMES KUNDA –

THE Zambia Road Safety Trust (ZRST) has urged truck owners to offer suitable training to their professional drivers as part of a broader risk management system which would help in reducing accidents.
This comes in the wake of the accident that claimed seventeen lives when the light Canter truck they were travelling in plunged into Shoprite Checkers Mazabuka on Monday.
ZRST chairperson Daniel Mwamba said in a statement yesterday that accidents involving professional drivers make a significant contribution to the carnage and the severity of outcome.
“Driving mistakes made by truck drivers may be more serious because of the weight, size, shape, maneuvering abilities, braking abilities of the vehicle.
“Professional drivers have a higher risk of being involved in a traffic accident because most of their working time is spent on the road,” he said.
Mr Mwamba said the Trust was in the process of developing a practical organisational road safety guide in consultation with the Road Transport Safety Agency (RTSA).
The guide would help bridge the gap between Government and road safety research knowledge, internationally endorsed road safety methodology, and assists industry as the end user.
He urged Government to engage closely with private and public sectors at their workplaces to address work related road safety issues.
According to the Police, over 2000 people are killed in road accidents on Zambian roads every year while thousands are injured.