Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) Executive Director Zindaba Soko says the agency will not waive fines slapped on speeding motorists following the installation of speed cameras on selected roads but the payment period will be extended by a month.

And Soko says the agency will re-register all vehicles before the end of the year, in accordance with the Road Traffic Act which demands that vehicles are re-registered every 10 years.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka, Monday, Soko said the agency would only extend the payment period and not waive fines slapped on speeding motorists.

“The Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) today Monday 20th August 2018 commenced the enhancement of the existing signage of speed. While this action is one of the first tangible elements of the Road Safety Management System launched on 7th February, 2018 RTSA recognizes that photo or video-based enforcement will have limited effect pending the implementation of a secure number plate vehicle identification system. As you are aware, the issue of excessive speed is one of the top five causes of road traffic crashes. This move is part of the best practices and standards in ensuring that motorists adhere to the regulations provided. The placing of such signage has been done with the authority of the Road Development Agency (RDA) who are the mandated Agency in this area,” Soko said.

“In 2016 alone, 2,206 people died in traffic related accidents. Therefore, it is the aim of the Zambian Government, through its agency the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to significantly increase road safety and traffic management. In February 2018, Intelligent Mobility Solutions (IMS) and RTSA unveiled the Road Safety Management System with the goal of saving lives on our roads. On the issues of waivers, The waiving of these fines won’t be done. What we have just done is increase the period erring motorists are to pay. And just to add on to that, you have actually other individuals who mention that throughout, motorist who are saying that throughout the day, I have received five infringements. But when you have received five infringements, it means that thorough the day, you have been passing points which have limits and you receive texts, it means you are erring.”

He said the speed cameras were in line with the SADC standard and aligned to National Traffic Signing approved guidelines.

“The standard being used is the SADC standard and aligned to our National Traffic Signing approved guidelines. The RTSA has been receiving concerns from various members of the public: 1. Complaints of no real time x 2. On the infringement notices by sms, Speed alignment and speed zone upgrades among others. 4. Visibility of signage 5. Messages. I wish to inform the general public and the concerned motorists that we have a huge problem of crashes coupled with the fatalities and serious injuries as a result of excessive speed. As RTSA we have embarked on a process of managing various bad driver attitude by the use of ICT’s and the difference we will have is that this will be electronically monitored,” Soko said.

“The placement of aligned signage including camera speed signs shall later be extended to other major highways before the implementation of the road side speed cameras enforcement is rolled out to other parts. However, The Road Traffic (Speed Limits) Regulation Statutory Instrument No.90 of 2016 states that the prescribed speeds are as follows: 1. Within the area of a Local Authority 40 KM per Hour; 2. Built up area outside the Local Authority -60KM per Hour; and 3. In any other part of Zambia (Trunk Roads) 100 and 120 respectively on the other hand, modalities are being put in place to address concerns associated with the enforcement of road side speed camera.”

And Soko said the agency would re-register all vehicles before the end of the year, in accordance with the Road Traffic Act which demands that vehicles are re-registered every 10 years.

“As you may be aware, the current RTSA vehicle database has a population of 765,000. However, only fifty per cent of these vehicles appear to be active and hence re-registration exercise that the Agency is currently working on the process of implementation. The re-registration of Motor Vehicles exercise countrywide is in accordance with the provisions of the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002, which demands that a re-registration must be undertaken every 10 years. Therefore, vehicle owners will be required to re-register their motor vehicles and trailers once the Agency announce the commencement date of this exercise. The re-registration of motor vehicle and trailers will enhance electronic motor vehicle registration with secure number plates and Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID) and it will be done at reduced fee,” said Soko.