Poor maintenance of vehicles is a primary cause for the escalation of road related deaths and injuries in Africa. The aim of Transaid’s Tyre Safety Awareness Campaign in Zambia and Malawi was to promote a change in attitudes towards routine tyre maintenance by raising awareness of the importance good tyre management with key groups in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Lusaka.

 

 

Studies of road crashes around the world reveal the dramatic realities of the problem, and highlight particular issues for African countries. With only 4 per cent of the world’s motor vehicles, Africa accounts for 10 per cent of world’s total road fatalities. According to the World Health Organization in 2000 Road Traffic crashes took the lives of over 168 thousand people in African.

 

The problem of road related deaths and injuries is growing in Africa in direct proportion to the increasing number of vehicles, and poorly maintained and overloaded vehicles compounded by bad driving habits is the primary cause. Ignoring basic rules of tyre safety is judged to be a major risk factor and results in numerous crashes. The routine check on pressure, tread, and general tyre condition will have a considerable impact on the performance of the vehicles and the safety of drivers, passengers, other road users, and pedestrians.

 

 

Transaid’s Tyre Safety Awareness Campaign is part of a wider programme of work on road safety and Professional Driver Training in Southern Africa. This campaign was supported by Bandvulc Tyres in the UK, and facilitated by Phillip Rochester, Training Manager for Michelin Tyres UK with in-country support provided by Trentyre Zambia and Kwik Fit Malawi.

 

The campaign focused on the training of key groups in both countries, including the traffic police, government road safety agencies, transport operators and training centres. The sessions provided basic information on tyre construction, tyre maintenance, inspecting tyre damage, and efficient use of tyres in order to reduce costs and fuel consumption.

 

Alongside the training sessions a number of activities took place to help disseminate the messages of the campaign. In visits to minibus taxi stations within the major cities of Zambia and Malawi discussions were held with drivers regarding suitable tyre pressures, tyre wear and tyre damage. Bandvulc Tyres in the UK had provided a large number of promotional stickers detailing good tyre practice which were distributed during these visits.

 

Partners

 

Michelin Tyre Plc; Bandvulc; Trentyre; Industrial Training Centre; Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA-Zambia); National Road Safety Council (NRSC-Malawi); Trentyre Zambia; Kwik Fit Malawi.

 

 

Over the two weeks the training took place a total of 141 individuals from key stakeholders undertook training in Zambia and 128 in Malawi

 

In terms of raising awareness our campaign directly engaged over 300 individuals but it is hoped that through further discussion with the key groups, the information will be disseminated to a far larger audience.

 

According to Phil Rochester "the targeted groups gave the campaign the penetration it deserved and I believe we achieved as much as possible during the small window of opportunity we had".

 

 

It was clear from the reports of participants that the campaign has made a real difference to their attitude and knowledge of the importance of tyre safety for the transport sector. We are not in a position to measure actual impact, but Transaid sees this as an important contribution to the education of road users.

 

The training managed to encompass the key government agencies within each country with a mandate to improve road safety. The inclusion of public transporters and private organizations has also given the campaign a greater reach into the transport sectors of both Zambia and Malawi. For example within Zambia the inclusion of the Maintenance Manager from Capital Buses will hopefully have an impact on the entire fleet of 150 vehicles owned by the organization. In Lilongwe and Blantyre the training of the Minibus Association staff will promote dissemination to the drivers of 2000 vehicles currently falling under the supervision of these staff.

 

By providing training materials to key organizations like the Traffic Police it is hoped that we will witness propagation of the safety messages.