Knowledge, Attittude and Practices of Motor Vechile Drivers towards The Road Transport and Safety Agency's Road Safety Measures: A Case Study of Chalala Area, Lusaka

Abstract

Road traffic accidents are common occurrences in Zambia and they are responsible for the death of hundreds of people in our country annually. Recent times have witnessed a number of measures being implemented by the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) in order to make our roads safe but ultimately to reduce road carnage and save lives. However, with all these things in place, instead of going down, the number of Road Traffic Accidents in our country continues to rise. The study was carried out to “Determine the knowledge, attitude and practices of motor vehicle drivers towards the road transport and safety agency’s road safety measures”. This was a qualitative study, conducted on 15 participants consisting of 8 PSV drivers and 7 ordinary drivers. The study was conducted in Chalala, Lusaka. A semi structured questionnaire was used to interview drivers and observations were used to assess driver’s practices on the road. This study was important because it sought to establish the reasons why RTA rates continue to rise despite measures put in place to bring them down. Results obtained showed that drivers had a high level of Road Safety knowledge but poor road user behavior. Drivers tend to be more reckless in driving and less compliant to road safety rules. Such behavior is responsible for the continuous increase of RTA rates that are recorded in the country. This study revealed that there is adequate knowledge on road safety among drivers, however the concern is on the driver's poor attitude and practices towards these measures. In spite of drivers having adequate knowledge on safety measures, their attitude and practices where negative towards these measures, therefore government and other stakeholders should consider massive investments into educating drivers on the importance of putting road safety measures into practice. Future studies should verify whether the measures put in place by RTSA to ensure road safety have led to improved attitude and practices among drivers and leading to a reduction in RTAs.