Ndola — THE number of traffic accidents in Zambia should be a source of worry. Hardly a day passes without newspapers, radio or television carrying stories of fatal deaths or injuries on the road.

More alarming are the rising numbers of passenger vehicles being involved in collisions or careering off stretches. One explanation is that either there is very little being done by police to control the speed or most vehicles are not roadworthy.

Just over the weekend 11 people were injured when a minibus they were travelling in careered off the road near Kafulafuta in Ndola. On the front page today we carry a picture of a mangled truck which rammed into another that was laden with copper concentrates. The Chingola-Kitwe road has become a frightening highway. Every other day there is an accident of some sort.

If we were to carry out a country wide survey the picture is quite gloomy and there is need to take measures to curb Zambia's road carnage. For instance there was a time when the Government slapped a ban on long distance passenger buses travelling at night.

There is no record of this order being rescinded. But visit the Lusaka city terminus, Masala bus station in Ndola or the KMB bus outlet in Kitwe, buses to Northern Province Livingstone Mongu Chipata or Samfya still leave at night, somewhere around midnight.

The situation for night travelling remains the same. Measures therefore are required to ensure that the ban on night travelling is enforced. But for vehicles involved in accidents during day time, the blame sometimes can be heaped on the police. One thing clear is that Zambia's motor vehicle population has gone up in the last few years. This simply means that new measures should be introduced to monitor transport..

If the number of policemen goes up, there will also be need to have more motor vehicles, motor cycles, so that more road patrols are effected.

It is also correct to note that far too many unroadworthy vehicles have been left to trudge along highways. It is not uncommon these days to meet a vehicle speeding at night with parking lights only. Yet such a motorist will have passed through a police check point.

At the rate accidents are occurring now, there just may be need for night patrols. But above all , police should be firm with drivers with defective vehicles. Tough measures are therefore part of the solution to curbing Zambia's rising road carnage.