Out of 208 road traffic accidents that occurred over the Easter vacation, FOURTEEN resulted in fatalities.
Most accidents, according to police, are the result of driving too fast, cutting in, failing to maintain a nearside, and misjudging clearing distance.
According to police deputy spokesperson Danny Mwale, the province with the most RTAs was Lusaka, with 95, followed by Copperbelt, with 34, Luapula, with 15, and Eastern, with 12.
He said that the Southern, North-Western, and Western Provinces came in second with 10 RTAs each, followed by Muchinga Province with 8, Central Province with 7, and Northern Province with 7.
“During this year’s Easter holiday, a total number of 208 RTA’s were recorded, 22 were fatal in which 14 persons were killed, 24 were recorded as serious injury road traffic accidents in which 68 persons were serious injured, 47 were recorded as slight injury road traffic accident in which 60 persons were slightly injured,” he said.
According to Mr. Mwale, 208 road traffic accidents were reported this year, a modest decrease of two from the 210 road traffic accidents recorded nationwide during the same period in 2022.
“Nine were recorded as fatal road traffic accidents where nine persons were killed same period in 2022 as compared to 22 fatal road traffic accidents in which 14 persons were killed this year. The figures indicate an increase in fatal road traffic accidents and in persons killed by 13 and five respectively.
According to Mr. Mwale, 40 people were seriously injured in 26 serious injury road traffic accidents in 2022, as opposed to 68 people who were seriously hurt in 24 serious injury road traffic accidents over the Easter vacation this year.
According to him, the statistics show a 28 percent increase in critically injured people and a two percent decline in serious injury road traffic incidents.
“56 were recorded as slight injury road traffic accidents in which 64 persons were slightly injured in 2022 as compared to 47 slight injury road traffic accidents where 60 persons were slightly injured during this year’s holiday,” he said.
Mr. Mwale continued by saying that over the course of this year’s Easter holiday, the Zambia Police Service collected K557,680.00 in fines for admissions of guilt.
