‘Billboards danger to road users’

By DOREEN NAWA

SOME Lusaka motorists have joined the Road Traffic and Safety Agency (RTSA) to complain about huge and very close billboards on busy roads saying they are a danger to road users.
Steve Kalyangile said in an interview in Lusaka on Monday the huge billboards that have been mounted along most roads in Lusaka have made the roads more deadly.

Mr Kalyangile urged the Lusaka City Council (LCC) to address the situation.
Another motorist, Janet Musonda, says LCC must give guidelines to people and organisations mounting billboards to avoid loss of lives.
“I am made to wonder why the LCC does not give directives to people that put up these billboards. I know in other countries the local authority does that,” Ms Musonda said.
LCC assistant public relations officer Mulunda Habeenzu said the local authority has received numerous complaints regarding the billboards.
“I can confirm that we have received a number of complaints regarding billboards, but I am not sure how far because the person who was in charge got transferred. I will make sure that I follow up on the issue,” Mr Habeenzu said.
He urged pedestrians to use designated points whenever they are crossing highways.
Specific to Kafue and Great East roads, Mr Habeenzu said pedestrians should use the foot bridges.
“There are foot two bridges on Kafue and one on Great East, but people still want to use the main road which is not safe at all,” Mr Habeenzu said.

Last week, RTSA expressed concern over the huge billboards saying they are a risk to road users.
RTSA also asked local authorities to look into the matter
The agency named the roads notorious for bill boards that are obstructing motorists’ view as Kafue, Great East and Addis Ababa.
According to RTSA statistics, Zambia recorded over 2,000 deaths from road accidents in 2012 alone.

Half of these accidents happened in Lusaka.
RTSA, in a bid to step up road safety, has even introduced a toll free number, 983.
Efforts to get a named company that has put up billboards on Kafue and Great East Roads failed.