An evaluation of RATSA's road safety communications for improving Bus Drivers road craft: The case of Lusaka public service Vehicles Bus Drivers

This report is based on an evaluation of the impact of the Road Transport and Safety Agency’s (RTSA) messages on the community to bring about social change. It is an assessment of how effective RTSA’s communication have been in making drivers more road craft and thereby help reduce the ever increasing road traffic accidents in the country.The report was fed by information by a study that was undertaken in Lusaka. The study employed questionnaires, interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FDGs) for data collection. It was undertaken to enlighten the public on the link between communication and development.Public Service Drivers both local and inter town have in the recent past made headlines in not only causing road traffic accidents but also flouting traffic rules as stipulated by RTSA. This trend has brought untold misery not only to the owners of the motor vehicles for loss of business but also to the passengers because some are left dead and others totally physically crippled and thereby leading them to total dependency on others.This study is significant in that it has outlined the successes and failures of RTSA in educating people in being road craft and in turn reduces road traffic accidents. It has also brought out issues and challenges associated with communication strategies to Public Service Drivers.The study was undertaken as a requirement to the partial fulfilment of the Master of Communication for Development (M.C.D) of the Department of Mass Communication of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zambia.