ADDRESSING ROAD TRAFFIC CRASH DATA GAPS AND CHALLENGES TO

ENHANCE ROAD SAFETY IN ZAMBIA

By

Elliot Bartholomew Phiri

A Dissertation Submitted to the University of Zambia in Partial Fulfilment of the

Requirements of the Degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA-General)

THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

LUSAKA

2022
 DECLARATION

I, Elliot Bartholomew Phiri, declare that this dissertation:

(a) Represents my own work;

(b) Has not previously been submitted for a degree at this or any other University; and

(c) Does not incorporate any published work or material from another dissertation.

Signed:...........................................................

Date:..............................................................

ii
 COPYRIGHT

All rights reserved. No part of this dissertation may be reproduced or stored in any form or by

any means without prior permission in writing from the author or the University of Zambia.

iii
 APPROVAL

This dissertation of Elliot Bartholomew Phiri has been approved as partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the award of Master of Business Administration - General by the University of

Zambia.

Signed: Date:

.............................................................. ...............................................

............................................................... ...............................................

.............................................................. ...............................................

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 ABSTRACT

Gaps and challenges in road traffic crash data have rendered collected data to be not adequate

such that implementation of road safety has been a major problem for the Government of the

Republic of Zambia considering the high number of road traffic crashes reported in Zambia

every year. Thus, these gaps and challenges have prompted the creation of new systems and

processes to address them and, in turn, improve road safety. This study, therefore, provided a

system for collecting enough road traffic crash data, filling in the majority of the gaps and

avoiding challenges, so that initiatives, plans, and policies are developed to minimize injuries

and save lives.

The researcher conducted interviews with road safety stakeholders, including the Road Transport

and Safety Agency (RTSA), Zambia Police, Road Development Agency (RDA), Ministry of

Transport and Logistics (MTL), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development

(MLGRD), some fire departments, and health facilities, to determine gaps as well as the

challenges that different stakeholders face in collecting and using data for road safety planning

and implementation, highway design, transportation planning and operations, road maintenance,

law enforcement, public health and emergency response services planning and implementation,

and road safety education. The responses to interviews, as well as the literature, provided

strategies to address identified gaps and issues in road traffic crash data as a means to improve

road safety.

It was found that addressing road traffic crash data gaps and challenges would assist in

improving road safety in Zambia

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 DEDICATION

To my wife (Idah) and children (Rona, Taonga, Dalitso, Chuma, and Lushomo)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I want to express my gratefulness to the Almighty God for providing me with

this opportunity to do this study. To God be all the glory.

I also wish to note that, without the help of my wife and children, this effort would not have been

feasible. They all understood and granted me the freedom to do my study without interruption.

My sincere thanks to them.

My supervisor, Dr. Fatima Korisha Ali Shah Hosein, deserves special gratitude for her direction,

insightful remarks, and support throughout the project. Further gratitude goes to Mr. Alinani

Msisya, Ms. Grace Mutembo, and Ms. Mwiinga Nkolola for facilitating and contacting most of

the research participants, and to Dr. Cornelius Chipoma for the criticism.

I would also like to express my gratitude to my classmates for all of their help, encouragement,

and the fantastic experiences we had together.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION.....................................................................................................................ii
COPYRIGHT.........................................................................................................................iii
APPROVAL...........................................................................................................................iv
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................v
DEDICATION.......................................................................................................................vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................................................viii
LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................................x
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1
1.1 Background...............................................................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the Problem..........................................................................................................2
1.3 Aim/Goal of the Study (General Objective)..............................................................................3
1.4 Specific Objectives of the Study................................................................................................3
1.5 Research Questions...................................................................................................................3
1.6 Significance of the Study...........................................................................................................4
1.7 Scope of the Study.....................................................................................................................4
1.8 Limitations................................................................................................................................4
1.9 Delimitations.............................................................................................................................5
1.10 Research Strategy...................................................................................................................5
1.11 Study Variables.......................................................................................................................6
1.12 Organization of the Dissertation.............................................................................................8
1.13 Summary.................................................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................................................................10
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................10
2.2 Road Traffic Crash Data Gaps...............................................................................................11
2.3 Road Traffic Crash Data Challenges......................................................................................16
2.4 Enhancing Road Safety...........................................................................................................18
2.5 Theoretical Framework...........................................................................................................23
2.6 Conceptual Definitions............................................................................................................25

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 2.7 Operational Definitions of Terms Used in the Study...............................................................25
2.8 Summary.................................................................................................................................26
Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..........................................................................27
3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................27
3.2 Study Design............................................................................................................................28
3.3 Study Site................................................................................................................................31
3.4 Population/Study Frame.........................................................................................................32
3.5 Sample Size Determination and Sampling..............................................................................33
3.6 Inclusion Exclusion Criteria....................................................................................................37
3.7 Approach/Procedures..............................................................................................................37
3.8 Data Management, Processing, and Data Analysis.................................................................39
3.9 Bias..........................................................................................................................................41
3.10 Validity and Reliability.........................................................................................................43
3.10.1 Validity.................................................................................................................................................45
3.10.2 Reliability.............................................................................................................................................45

Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS.....................................................................48

4.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................48
4.2 Background Characteristics of Study Participants.................................................................48
4.2.1. Age................................................................................................................................................49
4.2.2 Gender...............................................................................................................................................50
4.2.3 Professions of Participants...............................................................................................................51
4.2.4 Areas of interest................................................................................................................................51
4.2.5 Experience.........................................................................................................................................52
4.3 Interview Data and Analysis...................................................................................................53
4.4 Presentation of the Research Findings....................................................................................53
4.4.1 Road Traffic Crash Data Gaps.............................................................................................................54
4.4.2 Road Traffic Crash Data Challenges...................................................................................................56
4.4.3 Enhancing Road Safety.........................................................................................................................57
4.4 Concluding Summary.............................................................................................................61
Chapter 5: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS..............................................................................62
5.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................62
5.2 Enhancing Road Safety....................................................................................................62
5.3 Chapter Summary............................................................................................................67
Chapter 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................68
APPENDIX I: Interview Guide.............................................................................................79
APPENDIX II: Transcription sample...................................................................................81

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APPENDIX III: Informed Consent.......................................................................................88
APPENDIX IV: Letters of Introduction and Ethical Clearance............................................94

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Variables 6

Table 2.1: Road Safety Theories 23
Table 3.1: Sample Size Determination and Sampling 35
Table 3.2: Research Design Matrix 36
Table 4.1: Participants Institutional Distribution 49

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1: Framework of the Study Design.................................................................................31

Figure 3.2: Approach/procedure adopted......................................................................................39
Figure 3.3: Data management, processing, and analysis...............................................................41
Figure 4.1: Distribution of respondents according to age..............................................................50
Figure 4.2: Distribution of participants by gender.........................................................................50
Figure 4.3: Number of participants according to profession.........................................................51
Figure 4.4: Number of responses according to area of interest.....................................................52
Figure 4.5: Years of experience in road safety or related field.....................................................52

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 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Given the significant number of road traffic crashes recorded each year in both rural and urban

areas of Zambia, road safety in the nation has been a key concern for the Zambian government.

The Road Transport and Safety Agency [RTSA] (2019) reports that 30,648 road traffic crashes

occurred in Zambia in 2019. A total of 14,907 casualties were recorded, with 11% of them being

fatal, 33% suffering serious injuries, and 55% sustaining minor injuries. According to the

“Report of the Auditor General” (2015), road traffic accidents are the third largest cause of

morbidity and mortality in Zambia, behind HIV/AIDS and malaria, and the second biggest cause

of mortality in persons aged five to twenty.

The World Health Organization [WHO] (2020), on the other hand, reveals that low- and middle-

income nations account for 93 percent of all road deaths, even when they have only 60 percent of

the world's automobiles. Zambia, being a low- and middle-income country, and, by its road

traffic crash statistics, validates this assertion by WHO. Furthermore, WHO (2017) estimates that

road traffic accidents are the tenth largest cause of death across all age groups worldwide, with

road traffic accidents claiming over 1.2 million lives and injuring up to 50 million people each

year. Peden et al. (2004) anticipated that unless there is a fresh commitment to prevention, these

figures would rise by nearly 65 percent by 2024. As a result, the United Nations General

Assembly resolution 64/2551 declared 2011–2020 the Decade of Action for Road Safety, with

the global goal of stabilizing and then lowering the anticipated level of global road traffic deaths

worldwide by 2020. This, according to the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (2011),

would be accomplished by, among several interventions, enhancing the quality of data collected

at the national, regional, and global levels. Thus, WHO (2010) specifies that reliable data is the

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foundation for effective road safety management, and its outputs must be used locally and

nationally to diagnose road safety problems, determine appropriate interventions, track progress

toward road safety goals, and evaluate the effectiveness of road safety initiatives.

There are, however, gaps and challenges in road traffic crash data that have rendered collected

data not of much use. This is the case for Zambia where implementation of road safety has been

a major test for the Government given the high number of road traffic crashes reported every

year. The “Report of the Auditor General” (2015) also notes that Zambia's Accident Information

System (AIS), which aims to improve the reporting and analysis of road traffic crash data, had

not been fully implemented, and that some of the recommendations made by the RTSA in its

road audits and safety reports had not been executed by the Road Development Agency (RDA)

and the Local Road Authorities.

While various users have different data requirements, trustworthy data and evidence are critical

for defining the magnitude of road traffic injuries, identifying risk factors, creating and

evaluating interventions, giving information to policymakers and decision-makers, and raising

awareness (Peden et al., 2004). Road traffic crash and injury prevention can only be realistically

determined if reliable data is available.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Gaps and challenges in the gathered road traffic crash data have prompted the development of

novel systems and procedures to address them and, in turn, improve road safety. The crash data

is generally rendered useless or meaningless as a result of these data gaps, and the challenges in

data collection suggest that collected data for practical use remains a problem.

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1.3 Aim/Goal of the Study (General Objective)

The purpose of this study is to identify ways to address road traffic crash data gaps and

challenges as a measure to improve road safety. In a qualitative study, the researcher conducted

interviews with road safety stakeholders, including the RTSA, Zambia Police (ZP), the RDA, the

Ministry of Transport and Logistics (MTL), health facilities, Ministry of Local Government and

Rural Development (MLGRD), and some Local Authorities Fire Departments to determine gaps

as well as the challenges that different stakeholders face in collecting and using data for road

safety planning and implementation, highway design, transportation planning and operations,

road maintenance, law enforcement, public health and emergency response services planning and

implementation, and road safety education. The responses to interviews, as well as the literature

review, provided strategies to address identified gaps and issues in road traffic crash data as a

means to improve road safety.

1.4 Specific Objectives of the Study

The specific objectives of the study are:

1. Identify gaps in the collected road traffic crash data;

2. Investigate challenges in road traffic crash data collection and management in

Zambia; and

3. Propose and develop methods, activities, measures and means, and data types that are

relevant to fixing the gaps and resolving challenges so the complete road traffic crash

data can be used to plan future road safety measures.

1.5 Research Questions

The following form some of the pertinent research questions to be investigated in this study:

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 1. Does RTSA and Zambia Police collect enough road traffic crash data to enable road

safety planning and implementation and lead to improvement of road safety?

2. What are the challenges of collecting road traffic crash data and using it for road

safety planning and implementation?

3. What model can the RTSA develop to gather as much data as possible while avoiding

challenges in the processing of critical traffic crash statistics to enable effective road

safety planning and implementation?

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study provides a system for collecting enough road traffic crash data, filling in the majority

of the gaps and avoiding challenges, so that initiatives, plans, and policies are developed to

minimize injuries and save lives.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The study took approximately six weeks to complete and it was carried out in Lusaka, Zambia,

targeting the RTSA, ZP, RDA, health facilities, the MTL, MLGRD, and some fire departments.

It focused on the collection of road traffic crash data, identification of gaps and challenges, and

providing for interventions necessary for road safety planning and implementation.

1.8 Limitations

The study, although being for the entire country of Zambia, took place solely in Lusaka,

targeting the headquarters of the RTSA, ZP, RDA, the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and

Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital (LMTH) Casualty Departments, the MTL, MLGRD, and

Lusaka City Council Fire Department (LCCFD) and it was both time and sample size

constrained. As a result, the researcher conducted a comprehensive analysis of data acquired

from all persons interviewed from various road safety authorities and stakeholders. Some

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respondents, however, voiced concerns about answering some interview questions and requested

that no more people from their institution be interviewed.

Furthermore, because it was explanatory in nature, the study was able to uncover causal

relationships of the gaps and challenges experienced in the collecting, storage, analysis, and

processing of road traffic crash data for road safety planning and implementation purposes.

However, the researcher did not conduct a quantitative study, which would have necessitated

statistical and regression analysis and testing to identify and address road traffic collision data

gaps and issues in order to improve road safety on Zambian roads.

1.9 Delimitations

The study aimed at understanding how addressing road traffic crash data gaps and challenges

would lead to an improvement of road safety on Zambian roads. Several data gaps and

challenges were identified and ways to address them assessed with the aim to reduce road

crashes using evidence-based approaches such as using crash data to improve planning and

implementation of road safety activities by road user education, road safety laws enforcement,

improvement of road infrastructure, and policy formulation. The focus was on road safety

agencies such as RTSA, ZP, MTL, MLGRD, and RDA as well as health facilities and fire

departments that deal with treatment of road traffic crash victims and emergency response. The

study did not include road safety clubs, non-governmental organizations, and individuals with

interest in road safety as it was mainly focused on collection, analysis, storage, and retrieval of

road traffic crash data to prevent future crashes, rather than general safety on roads.

1.10 Research Strategy

Through the research questions, the study aimed to identify gaps in the collected road traffic

crash data; investigate challenges in road traffic crash data collection and management in

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Zambia; and propose and develop methods, activities, measures and means, and data types

relevant to filling gaps and resolving challenges so that the complete road traffic crash data can

be used to plan future road safety measures.

This study is mostly an explanatory qualitative case study that employed content analysis to

analyze data. Semi-structured interviews were largely used to acquire data. The reviewed

literature also supplied some useful data and aided in accomplishing the study's goals. The

researcher, consequently, analyzed the data to answer the study questions by looking for

repeating ideas and new concepts among the participants.

1.11 Study Variables

The dependent variable of this study is road safety. Independent variables are road traffic crash

data gaps and road traffic crash data challenges. Table 1.1 lists down variables of this study, their

type, indicators, and their scale of measurement. Refer to Appendix I for the interview guide and

question numbers.

Table 1.1: Variables

Variables Type of variable Indicators Scale of Measurement/ Question

Cut-Off Points Numbers
Road Traffic Independent • Road Safety • Type of accident; B1-B5
Crash Data gaps Management location; type of
road; time of
accident; number of
people injured
(fatally, severely,
mildly); number of
drivers involved;
weather; night-
lighting; vehicle
specific features;
type of vehicle,
technical inspection,
number of drivers
and passengers;
geometric road
characteristics; Type
of vehicle maneuver;
position and
movement of injured

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 pedestrians; traffic
rules, signs, and
signaling; and
driver's license
category and year;
sketch; restraints
systems in vehicle;
alcotest results;
• Hospital data • recording causes of
hospitalization;
documenting those
who have been hurt
in traffic accident
• Traffic Data • Annual Average
Daily Traffic of the
main road network
of a country; vehicle
registration licenses

• Definitions • Whether to call it

(accident/crash, accident or crash,
fatality etc.) serious injury or
fatality
• Unclear • Pre-crash and post-
determination of crash information
road accident such as driver
information, vehicle
information, and
road-environment
information
collected or not
collected
• Location • Actual coordinates
of the road traffic
crash
• Insufficient or • Completeness of
unclear/incorrect road crash data
coverage of road
crashes
Road Traffic Independent • Road Safety • Lack of planning C1-C10
Crash Data Management • Poor communication
challenges among stakeholders
• Low budgetary
allocation to road
safety activities and
development of road
safety statistics
• Inadequate human
resources
• Lack of or poor
equipment
• Hospital data • Hospital data not in
sync with road
traffic crash data
related with road
traffic crashes

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 • Traffic Data • Traffic data
collected by RDA
not readily available
for use for road
safety planning
• Insufficient or • Manual collection,
incorrect data storage, and analysis
collection tools of data
Road safety Dependent • Road User • Incidence/ D1-D10
Behavior prevalence of
drinking and
driving;
incidence/prevalence
of mobile phone
usage/texting; failure
to stop or yield at
intersections or at
pedestrian crossings;
inadequate
headways - close
following; use of
reflecting devices
for bicycles and
pedestrians; and use
of pedestrian
crossing facilities by
• Roads and pedestrians
vehicles • Percentage of road
network that does
not satisfy safety
criteria; design
standards; pavement
friction on wet road
surfaces; percentage
of new automobiles
that receive the
highest NCAP star
• Post-crash care rating
• EMS response time;
quality of trauma
care; quantity of
hospital beds per
population.

1.12 Organization of the Dissertation

The study is organized as follows:

1. Chapter 1 gives the background, rationale, aim and objectives of the study.

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 2. Chapter 2 is review of journal articles, books, dissertations, conference papers, and

other publications in relation to their relevance to this study.

3. Chapter 3 presents the research methodology and the justification for the adopted

research method.

4. Chapter 4 gives the data analysis and results of the research.

5. Chapter 5 is the discussion of results.

6. Chapter 6 provides conclusion and recommendations.

1.13 Summary

In summary, this chapter provided the study's background while describing the research problem.

Furthermore, the study's aims and relevance are established, and the theoretical framework is

provided as the basis of the research by discussing the research variables and their influence on

the research topic. This study encourages thought on how resolving data gaps and challenges in

road traffic crashes leads to an increase in road safety in Zambia.

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 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

The goal of this qualitative study is to identify ways and means to analyze, explore, and

comprehend data gaps and challenges in road traffic crash data, as well as the necessity to

address them in order to propose measures to improve road safety. Despite the fact that

numerous related studies have been conducted on improving road safety, reducing road traffic

crashes and associated injuries, improving road traffic crash data collection and management

methods, and using crash data to plan road safety, education, and geometric designs of roads, no

direct study of how to address data gaps and challenges (with the aim of increasing road safety,

education, or geometric designs of roads) has been conducted.

Furthermore, road traffic accidents have been an issue for most low-income countries, with

Zambia continuing to witness an increase in road traffic accidents, and its present attempts to

improve road safety appear to be falling far short of the intended levels. As a result, officials are

continuously looking for measures to decrease road crashes. In Zambia, data gaps and

challenges, though seldom acknowledged, have long hampered road safety implementation,

leaving the data obtained in most cases inadequate.

Road traffic crash data, according to Abdulhafedh (2017), aids in gaining a better understanding

of road traffic operational problems, locating hazardous road sections, identifying risk factors,

developing precise diagnosis and remedial measures, and evaluating the effectiveness of road

safety programs. Where data gaps and/or challenges appear, it is recognized that there is also

insufficient data and, as a result, compromised decision-making for law enforcement to identify

persons culpable in road traffic crashes, failure by insurers to find information to support traffic

crash claims, unreliable traffic crash database for road safety researchers, poor long-term

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national strategic and policy planning for road safety, and inadequate road safety education for

the public.

The variables examined in this literature review are road traffic crash data gaps, road traffic crash

data challenges, and road safety. In evaluating these variables, the researcher will examine the

intrinsic details of road traffic crash data: possible causes of crashes, severity of injuries suffered

by crash victims, damage to vehicles, time of crashes, locations, other data sources than the

police and road safety agencies, general conduct of drivers before, during, and after crashes, and

they will be able to provide solutions on how best to avoid future crashes, through identifying

and addressing all the road traffic crash data gaps and challenges and using the complete

information for effective planning and implementation of road safety.

2.2 Road Traffic Crash Data Gaps

In his paper, Baguley (2001) discusses the worrying trends in low-income countries' road traffic

crashes, under-reporting, socio-economic aspects of road accidents, and common practices in

safety improvement, with the main focus, however, on the importance of establishing a reliable

road accident database and analysis system, given that road accidents are the fundamental

measure of safety. To accomplish safety, Baguley (2001) believes that dedicated safety personnel

must do regular, in-depth assessments of accident patterns and then target many of them with

various corrective activities that are most likely to provide the best outcomes. In this regard, road

traffic crash data has to be complete and representative enough. A typical case of a low-income

country is Zambia which has not performed well in providing reliable accident data, with most

instances of unusable data presented to decision-makers. While Baguley (2001) gives an

overview of data gaps, he does not say how addressing these data gaps will assist improve road

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safety in a country like Zambia. It remains, therefore, the objective of this study to discover ways

to address road traffic data gaps in order to improve safety on Zambia’s roads.

Similarly, Grimm and Treibich (2010) assert that in low-income nations like Zambia, where

there is usually no comprehensive vital registration system and where a huge percentage of road

crashes and casualties are not reported to the police, reliable and systematic data on road traffic

injuries and fatalities are rare. As a result, there is a need to synchronize and gather data on a

regular basis in order to easily examine the causes of road traffic crashes. Grimm and Treibich

(2010) also recommend assessing a wide range of potential environmental, economic, and social

factors by developing effective interventions to address these issues, identifying cost-effective

ways to improve the safety level of traffic infrastructure research, and collecting micro data on

road user behavior attitudes and other socioeconomic and cultural characteristics. This, though

looking complete, does not present an adequate aid in detecting and filling road traffic crash

data gaps in a typical low-income nation as Zambia where road safety needs to improve. It

further provokes a need to conduct a study to address road traffic crash data gaps and challenges

in order to enhance road safety.

Of all the literature reviewed about the variable “road traffic crash data gaps,” Cherry et al.

(2006) was found to be the most comprehensive. Cherry et al. (2006) looked at five aspects of a

nation's crash-data analysis system, namely data collection, data storage, analysis and reporting,

accessibility, and overall system efficiency, and found the best innovations in each component,

which they then combined to form an ideal system that would maximize efficiencies for any

crash-data system. They give a scenario of an ideal crash data system and compare it to reality in

their concept of crash data gaps. For instance, in the best practices report highlighting the ideal

data collection, data storage, analysis, and reporting, accessibility, and overall efficiency, Cherry

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et al. (2006) offer system design suggestions and their advantages. They claim that where

benefits are lacking or missing, there are also gaps.

In the ideal data collection situation, field-based data is entered electronically with the incident

form containing domains and business attribute rules for data validation QA/QC, utilizing

automatic data entry from vehicle and driver's license databases as well as global positioning

system (GPS) for GIS location, in accordance with MMUCC (a voluntary guideline that

represents a minimum, model set of variables that describe a motor vehicle crash data element)

standards, and the electronic incident forms are sent to the central repository automatically, and

the database is updated without the need for human interaction (Cherry et al., 2006). However,

data gaps are common in Zambia because Zambia’s road safety agencies' data collection

practices, primarily the police incident data collection and reporting, rely on pen and paper, with

data entered on a standard form manually, describing the location of the accident by naming the

nearest known place and providing only the vehicle's direction but not the precise GPS location,

and electronic incident forms are absent.

Cherry et al. (2006) also define the best practice data storage regime as one that connects to other

enterprise databases, allowing users to explore and analyze data not ordinarily contained within

the primary database, such as driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, crime records, transportation

facilities, weather, traffic counts, statewide averages, and so on. Again, such data storage

facilities do not exist in Zambia, and as a result, data storage lacks critical baseline data that may

be connected to the cause of, or what affected, a road traffic crash, for example. While Zambia

maintains a database for driver licenses and motor vehicle registration, which includes vehicle

details and contact information for owners, there is no specific data linking motor vehicles and

drivers to incidents and causes that researchers or decision-makers may access.

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Best practices in analysis and reporting in certain Western nations provide access to a single

repository for incident reporting and the production of custom ad-hoc or previously prepared

reports, as well as the export of chosen data in a variety of formats (Cherry et al., 2006).

However, in Zambia, the system lacks the ability to customize the data structure's formatting

during export, and users only have access to data that has been requested rather than the live

database. And, in many cases, this information is gathered just to record an incident, rather than

with an eye toward future safety planning and execution. In this regard, gaps are prevalent such

that the provided data is found not of much use or it may be provided too little too late.

By whom and how road traffic crash data is accessed is determined by data collection, data

storage, and analysis and reporting systems (Cherry et al., 2006). Where such systems are not

properly arranged, and without an identified target group or individuals, as in the case of Zambia,

gaps arise, and collected data is usually not adequate for road safety planning and

implementation.

According to Cherry et al. (2006), the best practice scenario for “overall efficiency” entails

automation and reduced staff involvement in day-to-day operations, with items such as electronic

data transfer and electronic field-based data entry highlighted in the data collection section

contributing to overall efficiency and one-stop portals, lowering the amount of time users spend

looking for information and enabling for more in-depth investigations that would otherwise be

impossible due to time limitations. The Zambian system, on the other hand, is inefficient from

the start because data collection, storage, and accessibility are all manual and there are no

datasets available in a computerized format in a central repository for easy access and analysis.

The World Health Organization [WHO] (2010) states that reliable (road traffic crash) data for a

country, that are important in persuading political leaders that road traffic injuries are a priority

14
issue, can also be used in the media to raise public awareness of legislation and changes in

behavior that will improve their safety, and are critical in identifying risks, developing strategies,

and directing intervention. Any gaps in the data would make the data undependable and, in most

situations, unusable. In this regard, all Zambia’s road safety systems must be capable of

promptly and comprehensively identifying all data gaps and providing tools to seal them,

otherwise they will be deemed inadequate for preventing crashes and associated injuries and

fatalities.

Also, in Zambia and according to Wegman (2017), it has long been a tradition in road safety to

analyze crash data in order to understand why crashes occur, which factors influence risks, and

what determines crash severity, and then to draw reliable conclusions on how to prevent them

most effectively and efficiently based on this understanding. Wegman (2017) refers to this as a

data-driven strategy, in which priorities are established based on crash data, background data,

exposure data, and safety performance indicator data. Data gaps occur when any of these data,

individual elements, or social groups are purposefully or inadvertently missing (Giest &

Samuels, 2020). This is not uncommon in Zambia and is a cause of so much concern by

authorities when vital data are missing and, as a result, decisions cannot be efficiently made to

plan and implement road safety.

Imprialou and Quddus (2019), additionally, emphasize that the accuracy of road traffic crash

studies is dependent on the quality of crash databases, which are one of the key data sources for

road safety research, planning, and implementation. Data gaps, as a result, negatively impact

road safety planning and implementation as incomplete data cannot be used for proper road

safety decision-making. Also, Golembiewski and Chandler (2011) propose determining crash

types, analyzing crash location history, and investigating engineering, enforcement, education,

15
and emergency medical services data, and then selecting countermeasures against specific crash

types, with details from the crash data providing clues about the most appropriate treatments,

based on data availability. It is clear here that unavailable data, or simply data gaps, could

negatively affect the decision-making with regard to road safety.

It cannot be denied, from reviewing the above texts, that road traffic crash data gaps exist in

Zambia’s road safety systems and that they have to be identified and later addressed to enable

effective safety planning and implementation. Also, external factors and environmental effects

may exacerbate the data gaps issue to the point that new gaps that previously did not exist may

be created (Humpherson, 2020). This research, therefore, will enable road safety agencies in

Zambia to become aware of the data gaps and this is only possible if users, and not collectors, of

data give feedback. Humpherson (2020) also asserts that an organization may want to build a

much richer evidence base on where gaps arise, and the crucial steps taken by those who

successfully address them. A detailed picture of where gaps exist, as well as documentation of

the critical steps followed by individuals who effectively close them, must be created. These

documented experiences will be beneficial to Zambia as well as to other African countries.

2.3 Road Traffic Crash Data Challenges

In his work, Abdulhafedh (2017) provides an overview of the sources, trends, and challenges

related with road traffic crash data, and he also emphasizes the necessity of collecting road traffic

crash data, data collection methods, and data sources. As agreed to and noted by Abdulhafedh

(2017), the goal of this study is to guarantee that correct data is collected to support the

development, implementation, and evaluation of highway safety measures aimed at reducing

road traffic crashes. However, official road traffic injury data published by many governments,

including Zambia, are well known to have some flaws, which could be a significant source of

16
inaccuracy in modeling crash data, resulting in inaccurate estimations and inferences, and so

affecting road safety implementation (Abdulhafedh, 2017).

Chang et al. (2020) assessed the reasons for data challenges and offered solutions for traffic

statistics. They cited lack of reliable data, under-reporting, low specificity, inconsistency,

inaccessibility, and a skewed cause spectrum of road traffic injuries, and data release delays as

challenges. They further argue that road traffic statistics with flaws may mislead resource

allocation and strategic decision-making, posing an unwelcome risk in assessing the success of

road traffic management. This resource is critical to this research and will help the investigator to

determine the direction and importance of his work. This would also be relevant to the Zambian

road safety scene, which has faced the aforementioned and other challenges over the years.

Likhadzed and Lavrentyeva (2021) list data silos and poor data quality, a lack of coordination to

guide big data/AI efforts, a skills scarcity, solving the incorrect problem, and dated data and the

inability to operationalize insights as being some of the other data challenges; and these are

rampant in Zambia. These may have to be investigated to identify all the possible challenges

associated with road traffic crash data. Currently there are no efforts to identify road traffic crash

data challenges and to address them in order to improve road safety.

In their study, Khorshidi, Ainy, Sabagh, and Soori (2016) investigated the current condition of

road traffic data collection systems and proposed some practical solutions, concluding that

accurate and trustworthy data is critical for effective decision-making and the prevention of

RTIs. In agreement to Chang et al. (2020), Khorshidi et al. (2016) went on to note that some of

the issues they face in data collection include missing data, mismatched data, inconsistent data,

and overlapping data in some variables. This is the situation in Zambia, where these and many

17
other data issues must be explored, and the researcher must then provide remedies based on the

findings.

Further, WHO (2021) presents that the absence of valid, representative data causes profound

challenges to producing an understanding of the nature of the problem and to developing and

implementing the necessary countermeasures and implementation strategies to address the actual

burden of road crash fatalities and injuries. It provides a reliable source of knowledge in

identifying data challenges and resolving them while working at improving road safety. This

could be the foundation for this research and would assist a great deal to pinpointing all the road

traffic crash data challenges in the Zambian setting.

With so many challenges to road traffic crash statistics, it's easy to believe that road safety

planning is declining, and that effort has to be made by the specific road safety organizations to

arrest the situation. In this regard, the researcher is convinced that the foundation to his study is

laid by the knowledge provided by the above authors and that this study would provide a test and

possibly a good resource to road safety efforts through identification of the challenges and

resolving them to enhance road safety.

2.4 Enhancing Road Safety

Zambia's Ministry of National Development Planning [MNDP] (2017) proclaims that the

government will strengthen the national statistical system in order to improve the quality and

scope of statistical data in Zambia to support evidence-based policy formulation and effective

program monitoring and evaluation. MNDP (2017) also indicates that the Seventh National

Development Plan (7NDP) will place a greater emphasis on establishing cost-effective

techniques for data collecting, compilation, and storage through increasing investment in

information and communication technologies (ICT). It is, therefore, expected that Zambia’s road

18
safety agencies would have to rely on the 7NDP to promote their data quality and completeness

agenda in order to effectively carry out their mandates. This would set the basis for all future

planning and implementation initiatives.

Road traffic crash data in Zambia are mostly collected by Police. However, WHO (2010)

contends that a police-derived road traffic crash database is not considered sufficient to identify

priorities, choose effective responses, or target resources more efficiently, but drawing on

additional data sources such as injury surveillance systems, hospital discharge data, or national

surveys can help fill the data gaps. New data sources, such as social media platforms, could also

aid and complement administrative data and fill in data gaps (Legovin, Bedoya, Milusheva,

Marty, & Dolinger, 2020). It is, therefore, necessary to identify the data defects and make

recommendations for improvements in Zambia's road traffic crash data collection and

management systems.

Considering this, Jacobs and Aeron-Thomas (2000), in their report reviewing the African

continent’s road safety, stated that a number of African countries (including Zambia) must assess

existing data and information on the road safety situation in order to identify data gaps and

priority needs. In this manner, they will be able to plan and implement road safety more

effectively, as they will be able to analyze more data than just crash data. Disappointingly,

though, Jacobs and Aeron-Thomas (2000) failed to accomplish their objectives, and they blamed

their report’s lack of completeness on the surveyed nations’ failure to provide the crash data

claiming that the response was so low that they had to rely on public reports and donor projects.

It is believed that, if there is an active and dedicated research on road traffic crash data and

identified data gaps, there would be more enlightenment on what interventions need to be carried

19
out to improve road safety not only in Zambia but in all of Africa where road traffic crashes have

continued to rise.

Further, according to Worley (2006), developed countries have shown that road traffic injuries

are predictable and preventable after evidence of road traffic death rates have recorded a

decrease since the 1960s because of successful interventions such as seat belt safety laws,

enforcement of speed limits, warnings about the dangers of mixing alcohol consumption with

driving, and safer design and use of roads and vehicles, measures arrived at after analysis of

accurate and adequate crash data. This data is necessary to understand how successful road

safety initiatives and technology may be exported to Zambia from developed countries where

they have been proven beneficial. High-quality data are, thus, vital for good policy and are used

to track progress and evaluate the effects of road traffic injury prevention strategies (Chang et al.,

2020; RTSA, 2019).

Decision-makers may also require a solid data base to guide them on a daily basis. On the other

hand, King (2000), suggests that a framework encompassing some elements has been formed as

a foundation for understanding and improving the transfer of road safety knowledge and

experience to less-motorized countries such as Zambia. These elements, King (2000) says,

include the following:

1. Using aspects of world systems theoretical perspectives and the injury control

approach to better comprehend the relationship between institutional, economic,

social, and cultural issues and road safety;

2. Elements of medical anthropology, community participation approaches and the

theory of socially distributed knowledge to develop approaches to implementing

road safety measures more effectively; and

20
 3. Anthropological methodology to supplement traditional road safety

methodologies, in order to facilitate an understanding of road user behavior, assist

in the development and implementation of road safety measures, and evaluate

their impact.

Also, Racioppi, Eriksson, Tingvall, Villaveces, and World Health Organization (2004) argue that

the health sector plays an important role in mainstreaming road safety as part of developing

integrated transportation policies and strategies, and they recommend a multisectoral and

evidence-based approach to preventing road traffic injuries, with public health playing a key

role, as well as a strong political commitment at all levels. In this instance, correct and accurate

data is required as a means to plan and further implement road safety operations. The health

sector in Zambia is vital in presenting data that suffers less challenges and fills up gaps in order

to enhance road safety.

Further, in their influential paper on evidence-based and data-driven road safety management,

Wegman et al. (2015) concluded that high-quality data on (serious) injuries and estimates on

crash fatalities (though not necessarily reported by police, but appearing in health sector data,

primarily from hospitals) are essential for road safety management. As a result, a challenge is

posed to make Zambia’s health and police systems compatible or at least linkable, thereby

improving the quality of injury data, while also reviewing data on fatalities and (severe) injuries

for underreporting and processes on a regular basis (Wegman et al., 2015).

Also, Hyder et al. (2012) specify that, in order for Zambia, or indeed any other nation, to address

gaps and challenges in road safety, its government must make road traffic injuries (RTI)

prevention a funding priority; facilitate collaborative effort across sectors such as transportation,

health, and police enforcement; be a part of the global actors who provide concerted and

21
concentrated effort in RTI prevention; promoting political will through national governmental

support for road traffic safety; integrating road safety goals into national policies and plans;

training local experts in road traffic safety and country-level ability to address RTIs; and using

evidence-based interventions when addressing RTIs.

There is, now, clear indication that road traffic death rates in many countries have decreased

since the 1960s as a result of successful interventions such as seat belt safety laws, speed limit

enforcement, warnings about the dangers of mixing alcohol and driving, and safer road and

vehicle design and use (Worley, 2006). However, data gaps and challenges are threatening the

improvements and gains in road safety in countries like Zambia such that if not addressed they

will render all road safety planning, implementation, enforcement, education, and policy

formulation an academic exercise and may erode the road traffic crash data collection and

analysis exercises.

Heydari et al. (2019), on the other hand, proposed that future studies should focus on improving

data systems, which would result in significant changes in the way road safety data collection

and research is conducted in low-income nations. In addition, there has been a need to step up

research on road traffic crashes in Africa, with a focus on improving data quality, strengthening

monitoring, and putting evidence-based policies in place (Wiebe et al., 2016). These studies, in

particular, motivated this research, with the goal of addressing data gaps and challenges related

to road traffic crashes and, as a result, enhancing road safety.

To sum it all, WHO (2021) suggests that communication and sharing of information by different

road safety agencies through established mechanisms aid in the development of synergies, the

early identification of gaps, the estimation of the amount of effort required or barriers to

changing policies, and the effective monitoring and coordination of responses to these

22
challenges. The Zambian road safety agencies and authorities would benefit from collaborating

through such a mechanism of synergy, communication, and data sharing, as well as laying out a

reaction strategy based on the data gathered, with the goal of adapting and readjusting efforts to

improve road safety.

2.5 Theoretical Framework

The link between road safety and traffic accidents is described via many circumstances and is

based on a set of assumptions, recognized laws, forecasting, or explaining nature or unique

human and system behavior. Thus, many road safety theories are found to be the underpinning

reasons that the aforementioned circumstances promote specific types of conduct and events that

result in road traffic accidents. According to Jamroz (2008), these theories are stochastic, causal,

systemic, and behavioral. Each of them, Jamroz (2008) claims, has its own set of theories and is

the culmination of more than a century of road accident research from the earliest attempts to

explain the many elements of how road accidents occur. Table 2.2 depicts the hypotheses that

might be useful in this study based only on their nature of relating accidents to safety, and how

relying on or disregarding any of them would result in data gaps and challenges.

Table 2.2: Road Safety Theories

Theory Theoretical Argument Reference

Stochastic Road traffic crashes occur as Khayesi M. (2006). The handbook of road safety
random events measures. Injury Prevention, 12(1), 63–64. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2563494/

Causal Investigators use this method to Johnson, C. W. (2002). A brief overview of causal
figure out why a mishap occurred analysis techniques for electrical, electronic or
programmable, electronic systems. Glasgow, United
Kingdom: University of Glasgow.

Systemic Accidents occur when the safety Haddon W. (1972). A logical framework for categorizing
system's components interact and highway safety phenomena and activity. Journal of
fail to adjust Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 12, 193-207. doi:
10.1097/00005373-197203000-00002.

Behavioral Users alter their behavior in Bak, J., & Bak-Gajda, D. (2008). Psychological factors in
response to risk factors and road road safety. Eksploatacja i Niezawodnosc-Maintenance

23
 safety measures to varying degrees, and Reliability, (3), 22-29.
but not totally to compensate for risk
variables that generate behavioral
adjustment

Stochastic theories analyzed road traffic accidents as random events (Khayesi, 2006; Baykal-

Gürsoy, Duan, & Xu, 2009) and portrayed incidents as nearly impossible to forecast in terms of

location and timing for real-time data collection. However, it has been shown throughout time

that stochastic theories and models are insufficient for describing a road accident and suggesting

suitable road safety measures (Jamroz, 2008). It is evident that data gaps and challenges could

result from reliance on the stochastic theories and models of road traffic crash analysis.

The causal approach to accident analysis, on the other hand, held that the actual causes of

accidents could only be determined via comprehensive examinations of each incident and the

circumstances before the accident (Jamroz, 2008; Johnson, 2002). This theory can be used to

explain how an accident or near miss happens (Kim & Yoon, 2013).

Furthermore, the systemic theory's fundamental assumption was that accidents occur as a

consequence of failure to adjust when the components of the safety system interact, and it

proposed that mistakes occur as a result of the system being designed incorrectly and failing to

fit human capacities (Haddon, 1972). Accidents might also be a sign that there was a system

breakdown that put the organization or individual at danger.

The fundamental premise of all behavioral theories is how individuals perceive risk and accept it

as a major determinant of accidents (Jamroz, 2008). The idea of behavioral adjustment is more

restricted in that it believes that road users modify their behavior to varying degrees in response

to risk factors and road safety measures, but not fully to compensate for risk variables that induce

behavioral adjustment (Bak & Bak-Gajda, 2008). In Zambia, for example, over 87% of reported

accidents are attributed to driver mistake or just human conduct such as using a mobile phone

24
while driving, violating speed limits, overtaking in forbidden places, and so on (RTSA, 2019).

As a result, several road safety management strategies have been designed to function through

their effect on human behavior. Certain data cannot be picked from police accident reports, but

other data sources such as dash cams, social media, and roadside cameras could come handy and

explain behavior of road users. This theory would therefore be useful in identifying data gaps

and challenges and also help explain ways to improve road safety.

2.6 Conceptual Definitions

Data gaps are defined as known or unknown data for certain aspects or social groups that are

consciously or mistakenly missing, or when data is present but underutilized or of poor quality,

resulting in an incomplete picture for decision-making (Giest & Samuels, 2020).

Data challenges are data that require a large amount of storage space, or data that is held in

multiple locations and formats and is not complementary or coordinated, or a lack of skill to

analyze the existing data, or data that is focused on solving the wrong problem (Likhadzed &

Lavrentyeva, 2021).

Road safety refers to strategies and measures employed to protect road users from being killed or

seriously injured (Imp Center, n.d.).

2.7 Operational Definitions of Terms Used in the Study

Data gaps are data that is missing, underutilized, or of poor quality, as determined by incomplete

information, resulting in a lack of or bad decision-making.

Data challenges result from organizations constantly growing their hardware and software to

meet increases in data; organizations must respond in real time to accommodate data that is

created quickly; or data is stored in a variety of formats, including text, photos, video,

spreadsheets, and databases, or it may simply not be available or usable.

25
Road safety is the planning and implementation of ways to minimize road traffic crashes,

injuries, and fatalities.

2.8 Summary

After reviewing the literature on road safety in general, and on road traffic crash data gaps and

challenges in particular, it is simple to conclude that the great majority of the literature on the

subject has addressed the matter, and there is no need to undertake any new research. However, a

deeper examination reveals that the geographic scope of most research is mostly focused on

Europe and the United States of America. Africa has very few studies, and the majority of them

are general studies conducted in a group of African countries rather than specific and single

countries.

Furthermore, Zambia has not documented any study on the topic, resulting in the researcher's

strong determination to evaluate and publish results concerning road traffic crash data gaps and

problems, and how resolving them will eventually assist enhance road safety. It is envisaged that

this study will contribute significantly to the body of knowledge on the subject in Zambia and

throughout Africa.

26
 Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

In the previous chapter, the researcher primarily presented a review of the literature and

demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the academic writings on road traffic crash data

gaps and challenges as well as road safety (The University of Edinburgh, 2021). Furthermore,

the researcher was able to learn more about prior research and whether similar studies had been

undertaken.

The research methodology, in turn, gives a description of how the study was carried out in order

to respond to the research questions and meet the study's objectives. It also explains the

characteristics of the research population, sampling techniques used, research instruments, and

data collection and analysis methods used. Further, a detailed description of ethical issues, as

well as reliability and validity, is provided.

Gaps and challenges in the collected data on road traffic crashes have prompted the development

of new systems and processes to address them and, as a result, improve road safety. Because of

these data gaps, crash data is generally rendered useless or meaningless, and the challenges in

data collection imply that collecting road traffic crash data for practical use remains an issue.

To improve road safety on Zambian roads, authorities have to find a way to address data gaps

and challenges related to road traffic crashes. Therefore, to accomplish this goal, the researcher

identified data gaps and challenges in road traffic crashes, as well as ways to address them and

use the material to improve road safety planning, implementation, education, policy formulation,

and geometric road designs. Recognizing the various road traffic crash data gaps and challenges,

and advancing methods to improve road safety through sealing the gaps and resolving the

challenges, assisted in further achieving the aim of the study.

27
3.2 Study Design

According to DeCarlo (2018), the decision on whether the study will be exploratory, descriptive,

or explanatory impacts how a research project is designed. Therefore, this study took an

explanatory method in order to acquire a complete knowledge of how resolving road traffic crash

data gaps and challenges would lead to an increase in road safety in Zambia. The design was,

thus, mostly driven by the requirements of explanatory investigations. As indicated by

Bhattacherjee (2012), explanatory study explores reasons for observable events, issues, or

behaviors, or prediction, answering the why and how sorts of questions. In other words, the

researcher is attempting to identify the causes of road traffic crash data gaps and challenges and

their effects on road safety. Thus, in this research, the study investigates how addressing data

gaps and challenges in road traffic crashes would improve road safety. An example of an

explanatory study is where Simons and Wurtele (2010) observed, in their social scientific study

of 102 households with children aged three to seven, that enduring physical punishment from

parents led youngsters to turn to violence in resolving interpersonal problems with other

children. Also, as can be seen, this study sought to establish the relationship between variables:

road traffic data gaps and challenges (as independent variables) and road safety (the dependent

variable), an indication of explanatory investigations, as defined by research hypotheses that

indicate the nature and direction of the relationships between or among variables under study.

While it is noted that explanatory studies might be either qualitative or quantitative, it was

decided that the most appropriate study would be qualitative, employing open-ended, less

limited, and more exploratory interview questions, allowing participants to express themselves in

a less formal and rigorous manner. This is because this study aimed at obtaining in-depth

perspectives from senior and specifically-qualified officers of the RTSA, ZP, RDA, MTL, and

28
the UTH and LMTH Casualty Departments, and later, the MLGRD and the LCCFD on issues

concerning addressing road traffic crash data gaps and challenges in order to improve road

safety, rather than numbers and frequencies with which road traffic crash data gaps and

challenges affected road safety planning and implementation.

The researcher, in establishing a cause-and-effect relationship, chose a qualitative method and

proceeded to collect all relevant primary data via semi-structured in-depth interviews. These

interviews were found to be effective for data collection when the researcher wanted to collect

qualitative, unrestricted data, investigate study participant opinions, feelings, and beliefs, and

investigate deeply into personal and sometimes delicate issues related to road traffic crash data

gaps and challenges and road safety. Relevant officers were recruited for interviews based on

their experience, expertise, area of interest, and direct involvement in road safety. Letters of

introduction were sent to RTSA, ZP, RDA, MTL, UTH, LMTH, MLGRD, and LCCFD. These

institutions assigned officers to be interviewed as per requested numbers and as per the sample

size that was determined as explained in Section 3.5 below. Data were continuously reviewed in

an attempt to comprehend and create meaning from participants' perspectives of the analysis and

addressing of road traffic crash data gaps and challenges, as well as the implementation activities

necessary to improve road safety.

Before the interviews began, the researcher developed the research tools and data collection

methods. The literature review carried out in the previous chapter also formed an integral part of

the data collection process as it exposed the researcher to existing researches and what methods

are being used to improve road safety in other least developed countries and in the developed

West. The development of the data collecting instrument was heavily reliant on the researcher's

abilities and expertise, namely watching, interviewing, and recording, while adjusting the

29
observation, interviewing, and recording equipment from one field visit to the next. The

researcher sought out participants who were familiar with road safety and road traffic data

collection and analysis as well as post-crash care, emergency response, and trauma care;

employed a multidisciplinary approach initially; relied on his ability to elicit information from

participants and his careful attention to detail; was calm and unprejudiced with participants

during the interviews; and was empathetic while engaging with the participants.

Data gaps and challenges, as applied to other countries, observed from literature reviewed, were

identified and studied.

Later the researcher designed interview questions based on the study variables as well as

research questions and objectives. Piloting of the interviews was carried out and this led to

eliminating some interview questions, merging some, and rearranging others. The interview

guide is presented in Appendix I.

The interviews began with research participants providing background information such as their

name, age, gender, occupation, area of employment, and the number of years they had been

active in road safety, both directly and indirectly. The researcher next asked semi-structured,

open-ended questions on their overall perceptions about data gaps and challenges in road traffic

crashes, as well as road safety. Except for two interviews when ZP officers refused to have their

interviews recorded, all interviews were audio-recorded. Meanwhile, the researcher also took

notes which the interviewees checked for correctness. At the end of each interview, the

respondents signed the consent forms. Later, on the same day, the researcher transcribed the

interviews and compared them with the written notes. The transcriptions were stored safely in

electronic form together with the recordings and handwritten notes.

Figure 3.1 gives the framework of the study design.

30
 Chose qualitative
Decided research study
type is Because this study
explanatory sought to obtain in- Semi-structured
Reason for depth perspectives interviews
choosing from senior and administered
TYPE OF specifically-qualified RESEARCH Interview questions
TYPE OF explanatory is that EXPLANATORY officers of the Road designed based on
RESEARCH researcher sought STUDY
TOOLS
to explore how safety stakeholder the study variables
addressing data organizations on as well as research
gaps and issues concerning questions and
challenges would addressing road objectives
improve road traffic crash data
safety in Zambia gaps and challenges
in order to improve
road safety.

Figure 3.1: Framework of the Study Design

3.3 Study Site

Even though this is a study about the whole nation of Zambia, the study participants were all

domiciled in Lusaka, with their organizations having their head offices in Lusaka. The study

activities, therefore, were conducted in the City of Lusaka. Thirteen individuals, both male and

female, ranging in age from 26 to 52 years, and with experience in road safety and data

collection and analysis of road traffic crashes, road design, and emergency response and post-

crash care were recruited. Sections 3.4 and 3.5 describe how participants were chosen. The

participants were civil/highway engineers, police officers, statisticians, doctors, and firefighters

who worked in at least one of the following areas: road safety planning, road safety education,

road traffic crash data collection, road traffic crash data analysis, road safety audits, road safety

enforcement, road infrastructure design and construction, road safety policy formulation, post-

crash care, emergency medical services response, trauma care, research, and fire/emergency

rescue services. They responded to the study via interviews at the following locations: RTSA

headquarters, ZP headquarters, RDA headquarters, MTL headquarters, the UTH and LMTH

31
Casualty Departments, MLGRD headquarters, and the LCCFD. Each of them answered the 25-

question interview centered on the research variables, specific objectives, and research questions.

3.4 Population/Study Frame

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (n.d.), the population/study frame is defined as the

aggregate or collection of people, households, schools, hospitals, businesses, etc., also known as

units, about whom the survey will be conducted. These are the individuals who satisfy the

specific criteria given for a study investigation and from whom samples are gathered for

measurement (Mwanaumo, 2013; Walliman, 2011). For this study, the population/study frame

was defined as composed of all persons with specific qualifications and experience in road traffic

data collection and analysis; road safety planning, implementation, audits, and education; road

design and construction; road safety enforcement; road safety policy formulation; and post-crash

care, emergency medical services response, and trauma care. These were representing the

following organizations: RTSA, ZP, RDA, MTL, all health facilities in Zambia, MLGRD, and

the LCCFD. RTSA has about 60 qualified road safety officers, ZP could have over 900 traffic

officers (ZP declined to confirm their numbers), RDA has 40 engineers in charge of road design

and construction, MTL has 18 road traffic safety planning and policy-formulation officials, and

there are 300 health personnel dealing in post-crash care, emergency medical services response,

and trauma care, and 160 MLGRD and Fire Department officers dotted around Zambia, giving a

total population of over 1475 people. These are the persons and organizations that were typically

engaged in road safety, data collection and analysis, saving lives, and emergency rescue – all of

which were tied to road traffic crashes. The concerned individuals or groups of people, as well as

their responsibilities in road safety, road traffic crash data collection and analysis, and post-crash

32
care, emergency medical services response, and trauma care, influenced the population/study

frame.

3.5 Sample Size Determination and Sampling

Since the methodology adopted a qualitative approach and followed the research design matrix

as shown in Table 3.4, in-depth interviews were to be undertaken to acquire qualitative data from

the individual participants through direct, one-on-one interactions. However, the aforementioned

population of over 1475 people was found to be too large for the researcher to examine each

individual in the population, as it would have been too costly and time-consuming. As a result,

the researcher relied on sampling techniques to determine the sample size and conducted the

interviews of a smaller number of people, representing the population/study frame.

The researcher, therefore, adopted the purposive sampling technique to select various road safety

personnel, medical staff, and emergency response staff for semi-structured interviews. The

process included requesting permission from RTSA management, ZP high command, the RDA,

MTL, MLGRD, LCCFD, and hospital administrations, who recommended various individuals

depending on their qualifications, experience, and interest in the field of data collection and

management. This was done because the study required respondents who were adequately vested

with the knowledge of the road traffic crashes and related data collection and analysis.

According to Al Kindy, Shah, and Jusoh (2016), a sample is a group or subset of a population,

whereas sampling is the selection of an element or components of a population that reflect the

complete population. Additionally, Cooper and Schindler (2006) explain that researchers execute

the sampling technique on their population for the following reasons: to reduce the cost of the

study; to increase the speed of data collection; and to improve the accuracy of outcomes. Further,

according to Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2012), this approach allows for more time to gather

33
data, more comprehensive data to be obtained, and more time and effort to be dedicated to

collecting data from more challenging scenarios.

A sample size should, thus, be large enough to adequately depict the phenomena of interest and

answer the research question at hand (Shetty, 2018). A large sample size, on the other hand,

increases the possibility of obtaining repetitive data. Thus, selecting the appropriate sample size

enhances the likelihood of detecting an effect while also ensuring that the study is both ethical

and cost-effective (Guo, Logan, Glueck, & Muller, 2013). The initial goal of performing this

qualitative research was to guarantee that the correct people were recruited for the study in order

to have a large enough sample size to determine a range of viewpoints. Only those individuals

who fit the study benchmarks and background relevance as specified by the research goals were

selected. For this study, the participants who were selected are those expressly in charge of or

experienced in road safety planning, road safety education, road crash data collection and

analysis, road safety audits, road traffic laws enforcement, road design and construction, road

safety policy formulation, post-crash care, emergency medical services response, and trauma

care.

The sample size for this study was, therefore, selected to be 13, based on the selected

participants’ capacity to explain a certain subject, concept, or phenomenon (Robinson, 2014) to

enable the ease, convenience, and speed of collecting the data and the necessity for it to provide

a lower cost of data collection and to provide an accurate and complete understanding of

Zambia’s road traffic crash data gaps and challenges, as well as how to fix them. Purposive

sampling is, according to Tongco (2007), a kind of non-probability sampling that is best

successful when investigating a specific cultural subject with experienced specialists inside that

34
area. In this respect, the researcher, by using the purposive sampling technique, selected 13

research participants that comprised the following:

1. Three participants from RTSA (i.e., one road safety planning expert, one data

collection and analysis expert, and one senior officer in charge of road safety

audits);

2. Two participants from ZP (i.e., one responsible for road safety enforcement and

one in charge of data collection);

3. Two participants from RDA (i.e., one for road design and one for construction);

4. One participant from the MTL (i.e., responsible for road safety policy

formulation);

5. Two participants from health facilities (UTH and LMTH Casualty Departments),

6. One participant from MLGRD,

7. One participant from LCCFD, and

8. A RTSA corporate governance official (a former board chairperson).

Table 3.3: Sample Size Determination and Sampling

Population/Study Frame Sampling Sample Size
Technique
From all of Zambia
 About 60 RTSA officers  3 participants from RTSA;
Purposive Sampling

 About 900 ZP Traffic Officers  2 participants from ZP;

 40 RDA Engineers  2 participants from RDA;
 18 MTL officers  1 participant from the MTL;
 About 300 health practictioners dealing in  2 participants from Health facilities (UTH
post-crash care, emergency medical and LMTH Casualty Departments),
services response, and trauma care  1 participant from MLGRD,
 160 MLGRD and Fire Departments  1 participant from LCCFD, and
officers  1 RTSA corporate governance official (a
former board chairperson).
Population size: 1478 people (estimate) Total number of participants: 13 people

The researcher used own sound judgment to select the above participants based on their

seniority, experience, and interest in the subjects of road safety, data collection and analysis, and

35
post-crash medical care, and also considering that the study sought to investigate how and when

addressing data gaps would improve road safety in Zambia. Using purposive sampling, it was

thought that the study sample members were dependable and useful and capable of appropriately

responding to research questions. The researcher also found purposive sampling as a method to

save time and money.

Table 3.4: Research Design Matrix

Item Research Research Objectives Population & Data Data

Question Sampling Collection Analysis
1 Does RTSA and Identify gaps in the Qualified and 1. Person-to- Qualitative
Zambia Police collected road traffic crash experienced person Content
collect enough data. RTSA, Zambia Interviews Analysis
road traffic crash Police, MTL, 2. Literature
data to enable road MLGRD, Reviews
safety planning LCCFD, UTH,
and LMTH, and
implementation RDA
and lead to (Purposive
improvement of Sampling)
road safety?

2 What are the Investigate challenges in Qualified and 1. Person-to- Qualitative

challenges of road traffic crash data experienced person Content
collecting road collection and management RTSA, Zambia Interviews Analysis
traffic crash data in Zambia. Police, MTL, 2. Literature
and using it for MLGRD, Reviews
road safety LCCFD, UTH,
planning and LMTH, and
implementation? RDA
(Purposive
Sampling)
3 What model can Propose and develop Qualified and 1. Person-to- Qualitative
the RTSA develop methods, activities, experienced person Content
to gather as much measures and means, and RTSA, Zambia Interviews Analysis
data as possible data types that are relevant Police, MTL, 2. Literature
while avoiding to fixing the gaps and MLGRD, Reviews
challenges in the resolving challenges so the LCCFD, UTH,
processing of complete road traffic crash LMTH, and
critical traffic data can be used to plan RDA
crash statistics to future road safety measures. (Purposive
enable effective Sampling)
road safety
planning and
implementation?

36
3.6 Inclusion Exclusion Criteria

Of the 13 in the sample size, three were from RTSA (road safety planning expert, data collection

and analysis, and road safety audits); two from ZP (enforcement and data collection); two from

RDA (in charge of road design and construction); one from MTL (responsible for road safety

policy formulation and for data analysis); two from UTH and LMTH casualty departments

(responsible for post-crash care, emergency medical services response, and trauma care) and one

each from MLGRD, LCCFD, and an interested, ex-board chairperson of the RTSA. The

aforementioned served as the majority of the inclusion criteria.

Exclusion criteria, on the other hand, comprised representatives from the said road safety

agencies and ministries who are inexperienced in their jobs, those who refused to give informed

consent, officers who were likely to be lost to follow-up, and those who missed scheduled

appointments to collect data, provided inaccurate data, and displayed characteristics/behavior

that could have been irrational.

3.7 Approach/Procedures

The researcher gathered only primary data through observation without intervening or any form

of data manipulation. The approach was the traditional approach that included the causal

approach. It was found to be the most suitable approach as it linked dependent variables to

independent variables. This is a standard methodology in road safety research; it could be

verified from several similar studies on the topic of road safety that were found to have been

carried out by qualitative means.

DiCicco-Bloom and Crabtree (2006) illustrate that some research is meant to test a priori

hypotheses, typically utilizing a fairly organized interviewing style with standardized questions

and analysis, whilst other research attempts to investigate meaning and perceptions in order to

37
acquire a better understanding and/or develop ideas. This study, rather, investigated the latter,

which typically involved some sort of qualitative investigation, allowing interviewees to provide

detailed descriptions of events and/or experiences while leaving the interpretation or analysis to

the investigators.

For each of the specific objectives, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews of the

relevant persons responsible for road safety planning, education, data collection and analysis,

and road safety audits; for road safety enforcement; for road design and construction; for road

safety policy formulation and for data analysis; for post-crash care, emergency medical services

response, and trauma care at RTSA, ZP, RDA, MTL, UTH and LMTH casualty departments,

MLGRD, and LCCFD. These interviews recorded, analyzed, and sought to reveal the deeper

meaning and relevance of human behavior and experience while highlighting and analyzing gaps

and challenges in the traffic crash data needed for and with a view to improving road safety

planning and execution in Zambia.

A theory or a significant pattern was sought or formed based on the facts gathered by the

researcher. This study’s data were collected and recorded in writing form based on semi-

structured in-depth interviews. The researcher interviewed 13 people, and data collecting took

place in stages, with the process adjusted mid-way to cover more topics or drop questions that

were no longer relevant based on what was learned during the process.

The interview questions were open-ended, less limited, and more exploratory, allowing

participants to express themselves in a less formal and rigorous manner. These interviews

collected qualitative data on respondents' demographic characteristics and opinions on road

traffic crash data, how to address data gaps and data challenges, and the resulting road safety

improvement.

38
The findings and recommendations of the research helped to develop policy and knowledge,

provide services, and reform thinking (Chun Tie, Birks, & Francis, 2019) in order to initiate

change in improving road safety. Because this was a qualitative study, the interviews only asked

open-ended questions to carefully selected officers from the RTSA, ZP, RDA, MTL, and the

UTH's and LMTH’s Casualty Departments, and, later, a former board chairperson of RTSA, an

officer from the MLGRD, and from LCCFD.

Figure 3.2 gives the illustration of the approach/procedure adopted.

Analysis Findings and

- collected qualitative data recommendations
on respondents' - develop policy and
demographic knowledge, provide
characteristics and services, and reform in
opinions on how to order to initiate change in
Semi-structured interviews improving road safety
address data gaps and data
of 13 participants:
challenges, and the - Ways to address road
- recorded interviews resulting road safety traffic crash data gaps
- interview questions open- improvement. and challenges identified
ended allowing - A theory or a significant and that leads to
Qualitative Study participants to express pattern was sought or improvement of road
- Investigating meaning themselves in a less formal formed based on the facts safety
and perceptions to get and rigorous manner gathered by the researcher
better understanding - 25 inerview questions
and develop ideas of around the study variables:
how to prevent road traffic crash data gaps
Approach accidents using and challenges and road
/Procedure adequate road traffic safety
crash data
- Causal Approach
- Relationship
between variables:
road traffic crash
data gaps and
challenges and
road safety

Figure 3.2: Approach/procedure adopted

3.8 Data Management, Processing, and Data Analysis

Data was derived via semi-structured in-depth interviews for the specific objectives indicated

above, and the recordings of these interviews were transcribed with names and identifiable

information deleted. The transcribed text was quality-checked against the original audio, and the

39
resulting information saved in password-protected word processing files. A sample of the

transcription is given in Appendix II.

To assess the study content, meaning categories representing participants' ideas and feelings

were assigned to the material, such that as the number of examples analyzed increased, repeating

patterns that were necessary to supporting or testing the researcher's beliefs emerged. The

qualitative data analysis approach used to analyze patterns within a piece of information is

qualitative content analysis, which describes and interprets participants' perspectives (Smith &

Firth, 2011). This approach documented how frequently a concept was conveyed or discussed,

how many times certain gaps or problems in traffic data collection were highlighted in

interviews, and how they were handled to improve road safety.

This study investigated the exceptional experiences of qualified and senior personnel in charge

of road safety design, policy formulation, and implementation; road traffic crash data collection

and analysis; road design and construction; and post-crash care, emergency medical responses,

and trauma care through interviews in which the researcher had intense and prolonged

interaction with participants. The researcher sought to accomplish a holistic, comprehensive, and

integrated understanding of the context of road safety: how road traffic crashes would be reduced

after identifying and resolving data gaps and challenges, utilizing complete and reliable data to

improve road safety policy and education, road infrastructure, motor vehicles and their

equipment, and enforcement of road traffic regulations.

Deep listening, empathetic engagement, and leaving out assumptions regarding the issue of road

safety and road traffic crash data collection, analysis, and identifying and analyzing gaps and

challenges were used by the researcher to capture the perspectives of participants. This was

40
accomplished using audio-recorded interviews with participants, while the researcher served as

the primary instrument in the study as the interviewer.

The majority of the analysis was done with words that could be constructed, sub-grouped, or

segmented. The words were reorganized to allow the researcher to compare, contrast, analyze,

and construct patterns from them for rational outcomes such as extended narratives, categories,

themes, assertions, propositions, and/or theories to describe and explain how experts in specific

settings of road safety, road traffic crash data collection and analysis, and post-crash care,

emergency response, and trauma care, account for, act, and otherwise manage their day-to-day

activities in road safety and post-crash care and emergency response, and trauma care. Figure 3.3

illustrates the data management, processing, and analysis.

In-depth interview Qualitative content analysis

Deep listening, empathetic Recordings of the interviews Words reorganized to allow the
engagement, and leaving out comparison, contrast, analysis, and
assumptions regarding the issue of patterns from them for extended
Recording transcribed, quality-
road safety and road traffic crash narratives, categories, and/or
checked against the original audio,
data collection, analysis, and themes, assertions, propositions, to
and the resulting information saved
identifying and analyzing gaps and describe and explain experts' idea of
in password-protected word
challenges were used by the road traffic crash data gaps and
processing files
researcher to capture the challenges to understand, account
perspectives of participants for, act, and manage road safety
and post-crash care and emergency
care

Figure 3.3: Data management, processing, and analysis

3.9 Bias

According to Galdas (2017), recognizing and comprehending research bias is critical for

assessing the value of study findings and is an essential component of evidence-based decision-

making in any field. Bias in qualitative studies alters the research outcomes and produces

41
misleading data, undermining the methodical inquiry's validity and trustworthiness. It occurs

when study findings are influenced by personal convictions, traditions, attitudes, culture, and

flaws.

Recognizing that research questions are the primary means through which data in research is

obtained, the researcher believes that biased questions might lead to erroneous research

conclusions. Leading questions, double-barreled questions, negative questions, and loaded

questions may all have an impact on how participants respond and the authenticity of their

comments. The researcher, therefore, identified and eliminated biased questions in the study or

rephrased them.

Other methods which the researcher used to remove or reduce bias included recruiting

participants and collecting data samples from diverse age groups (ages 26-52), professions

(civil/highway engineers, police officers, statisticians, doctors and paramedics, firemen, and

sociologists), fields of work (road safety planning, road safety education, road traffic crash data

collection, road traffic crash data analysis, road safety audits, road safety enforcement, road

infrastructure design and construction, road safety policy formulation, post-crash care,

emergency medical services response, trauma care, research, and fire/emergency rescue

services), and from different road safety stakeholder organizations in the research population.

Also, the researcher reviewed literature on road safety and road traffic crash data collection and

analysis, and data gaps and challenges, and confirmed whether the study was on the correct

course. Some research participants were asked to help evaluate if the researcher's explanations

were representative of the participants' beliefs after they were requested to review the research

objectives, interview guide, analyses of the responses; and verifying and identifying alternative

explanations for why the researcher may have compiled the data that was indeed collected and

42
confirmed that indeed addressing data gaps and challenges would help provide adequate and

reliable data to help with planning road accident prevention and reduction of fatalities. The

researcher also asked an independent individual to examine the research observations and results

so as to discover flaws in the argument that eventually required addressing and were attended to.

Further, because the sampling in this study was purposive (i.e. non-probability) and taken for a

specific purpose, the researcher was concerned that the results would be perceived as biased. As

a result, the research focused on removing or reducing this perceived bias in order to ensure that

the adopted non-probability sampling became acceptable. Consequently, the inclusion exclusion

criteria stated in Section 3.6 were used to eliminate or reduce this bias in the selection of

potential respondents.

3.10 Validity and Reliability

In qualitative research, validity refers to the integrity and application of the methods used, as

well as the precision with which the findings accurately reflect the data, whereas reliability refers

to the consistency of the analytical procedures used (Noble & Smith, 2015). In this regard, the

researcher designed the interview questions in such a way that for a study to be valid, the results

must be consistent regardless of how the data was collected. The interview questions covered the

two independent variables (road traffic crash data gaps and challenges) and the dependent

variable (road safety). To achieve an acceptable measure of reliability, the instrument was pre-

tested in a pilot interview conducted on some sampled respondents. This led to the review of the

interview guide – rephrasing and condensing of some questions to just 25 questions from an

initial number of 35 – to enable it achieve the research objectives.

According to Golafshani (2003), under the qualitative paradigm, reliability and validity are

characterized as trustworthiness, rigor, and quality. To accomplish these goals, the researcher

43
used triangulation to minimize bias and enhance the researcher's veracity of a claim regarding a

social phenomenon (Denzin, 1978). Triangulation is the use of many techniques or data sources

to build a full knowledge of phenomena (Patton, 1999), and it is also seen as a research approach

to evaluate validity through the convergence of information from several sources.

The type of triangulation employed is data triangulation. It entails classifying each group or kind

of stakeholder for the program under evaluation and including a similar number of participants

from each stakeholder group in the evaluation research (Guion, 2002). This type of triangulation

was thought to be best suited for this study because the researcher was looking for outcomes that

were agreed upon by all stakeholder groups, with the weight of evidence indicating that if every

stakeholder, who is looking at the issue from different perspectives, sees an outcome, it is more

than likely to be a true outcome (Guion, 2002). Furthermore, this type of triangulation was

shown to be the simplest to apply, and it is particularly suitable for this study given the various

stakeholder groups (RTSA, ZP, RDA, MTL, UTH, LMTH, MLGRD, and LCCFD) with a strong

interest in road safety initiatives.

Similar to what is already stated in Section 3.9, triangulation included recruiting participants and

collecting data samples from diverse age groups (ages 26-52), professions (civil/highway

engineers, police officers, statisticians, doctors and paramedics, firemen), fields of work (road

safety planning, road safety education, road traffic crash data collection, road traffic crash data

analysis, road safety audits, road safety enforcement, road infrastructure design and construction,

road safety policy formulation, post-crash care, emergency medical services response, trauma

care, research, and fire/emergency rescue services), and from different road safety stakeholder

organizations in the research population (RTSA, ZP, RDA, UTH, LMTH, MLGRD, and

LCCFD).

44
3.10.1 Validity

An independent moderator was hired by the researcher to assist overcome personal bias, enhance

study validity, and verify that the qualitative data obtained is authentic and not influenced by the

researcher's fixed ideas about the topic. Also, the validity of the research was maintained by

employing the triangulation technique, which included doing research from several angles in

order to gather diverse perspectives and data validation (Carter et al., 2014). Furthermore, the

validity of qualitative research was verified by the use of a technique known as respondent

validation, which entailed checking the initial results with the participants to determine if the

results were still true (Thakur & Chetty, 2020). Some participants came back later with

additional data and updated some of the information after the researcher checked on them and

requested them to confirm their original statements. In most instances, participants would

reinforce their earlier positions, and these would agree with most other participants.

3.10.2 Reliability

To guarantee reliability, research questions were developed in accordance with the specific

objectives, and the technique of sampling respondents was carefully chosen to ensure a fair

distribution of respondents and minimize bias in responses. The reliability was also tested using

data triangulation, in which other research works in the same field were reviewed and provided

as a literature review to corroborate the data collecting and analysis process's findings claims.

The reliability metrics pertaining to data triangulation gave a thorough grasp of the study aims,

adding an extra degree of trustworthiness to the research.

3.11 Ethics considerations

Given the nature of this qualitative study, the researcher anticipated that interactions between the

investigator and participants of the study would be ethically difficult for both parties, as they

45
were both intimately invested in various stages of the research (Sanjari, Bahramnezhad, Fomani,

Shoghi, & Cheraghi, 2014). Some of the ethical issues addressed during the course of this

qualitative research included anonymity, confidentiality, privacy, beneficence, and informed

consent (Sanjari et al., 2014). These were presented in the ‘Informed Consent’ form made

available to participants at the start of every interview. The sample of the Informed Consent is

presented in Appendix III. Each participant would be requested to read and understand the form

and sign it as a way to consent to the data collection by the researcher.

The informed consent provides the following information: title of the proposed study; the

name(s) and contact details of the investigator(s); background and rationale of the study; the

research purpose, procedures, and targeted participants; possible risks/discomforts and benefits

to the study participants; alternatives to study participation (noting that participation is voluntary

and participants can withdraw entirely with no penalty or loss of promised or accrued benefits);

that costs related with the study would be borne by the investigator; that participants would

contribute to the study as volunteers and they would not be compensated for participating except

for typical travel and opportunity expenses; participants were advised where to address queries

about their rights as research participants; and that participants would write a statement of

voluntariness It was also stressed that the study results will be kept totally confidential and

utilized solely for research reasons.

Finally, as the participants in the study signed the Statement of Consent, they were informed

about the measures that would be utilized to safeguard their identity and confidentiality. They

were also told that the researcher would be the person they could talk to about the study. The

"Noncoercive Disclaimer," which indicates that participation is entirely voluntary and that

refusing to participate carries no consequences (Fouka & Mantzorou, 2011), was included too

46
and the participants were told that they had the right to withdraw at any time and with no

consequences to them.

Anxiety and worry were experienced by some participants, and, at times, the research process

was misunderstood to be an audit or criminal investigation encounter, coercion, or the need for

additional assistance and deception (Richards & Schwartz, 2002). These risks were, however,

reduced by being clear about the scope of the research, treating informed consent as a process,

being open and honest about the researcher’s professional history, and demonstrating that the

researcher was properly trained and supervised (Richards & Schwartz, 2002). The letters of

Introduction and the Ethical Clearance (reproduced in Appendix IV) helped in assuring study

participants that the study was properly supervised and genuine, and that the data collection was

trustworthy.

47
 Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

4.1 Introduction

Following a detailed discussion of the methodology and research design needed to achieve the

research goals, wherein the researcher described the data collection and data analysis tools used

in the research, as well as the overall research design, the findings from the semi-structured

interviews are presented in this chapter. These results are analyzed in accordance with the study

objectives, namely, identify gaps in the collected data; investigate the challenges in collecting

and managing data on road traffic accidents in Zambia; and propose and develop techniques,

actions, measures, and means, as well as data types, that are pertinent to closing gaps and

overcoming challenges so that comprehensive road traffic crash data may be used to plan future

road safety measures.

The researcher aimed at identifying ways to address road traffic crash data gaps and challenges

as a measure to improve road safety. In-depth interviews with road safety stakeholders that

included the RTSA, ZP, RDA, MTL, UTH and LMTH, MLGRD, and LCCFD were conducted

to determine gaps as well as the challenges that different stakeholders face in collecting and

using road traffic crash data for road safety planning and implementation, highway design,

transportation planning and operations, road improvement, law enforcement, public health and

emergency response services planning and implementation, and road safety education. The

responses to the interviews provided strategies to address identified gaps and challenges in road

traffic crash data as a means to improve road safety.

4.2 Background Characteristics of Study Participants

The findings of this qualitative study are based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 13

participants recruited from the afore-mentioned institutions on dates between 4th November

48
2021 and 20th November 2021. All of these people agreed to take part in the study on their own

will. Table 4.5 below presents the number of participants targeted and the number actually

interviewed. Interviews were organized at times that were convenient for both the participants

and the researcher.

Table 4.5: Participants Institutional Distribution

Institution Number of Number of Actual Percentage
Targeted Participants participation
Participants
Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) 4 3 23.0%
Zambia Police (ZP) 2 2 15.4%
Road Development Agency (RDA) 2 2 15.4%
Ministry of Transport and Logistics (MTL) 2 1 7.7%

Health Facilities (UTH, LMTH, other) 3 2 15.4%

Others: Lusaka City Council Fire Department
(LCCFD) 0 1 7.7%
Ministry of Local Government and
Rural Development (MLGRD) 0 1 7.7%
Former board member of the RTSA 0 1 7.7%
Total 13 13 100%

Four study participants were interviewed over the phone, while nine participants were

interviewed in person. The phone interviews were determined to be required for interviewees

who were unable to meet the researcher in person but were willing to complete the interview

over the phone. Interviews were recorded and transcribed the same day. However, participants

from ZP requested that their interviews were not be recorded; nonetheless, the researcher took

field notes just like with the other interviews and the notes were also found to be useful for this

analysis.

The following demographic details of participants were reviewed and analyzed:

4.2.1. Age

Prior to taking any data, the researcher requested all participants to provide their ages. Surveys or

interviews record the attitudes and ideas of different age groups; hence age or age groups are

49
significant (Andrews & Herzog, 1986). For instance, statements from younger participants may

primarily allude to the usage of electronic rather than manual solutions in the majority of

circumstances. With a wide age range, it was feasible to collect data from a diverse range of

people, which aided in triangulation and increased the trustworthiness of the data acquired.

Participants’ ages were as distributed in Figure 4.4 below:

Figure 4.4: Distribution of respondents according to age

4.2.2 Gender

Only one study participant of the 13 was female. The rest were male. Distribution by gender is

given in Figure 4.5.

Distribution of respondents by
gender

7% Male
Female

93%

Figure 4.5: Distribution of participants by gender

50
4.2.3 Professions of Participants

Of the 13 participants, two were civil engineers, two were highway/traffic engineers, two were

police officers, two were statisticians, one was a fireman, two health practitioners, and two

sociologists. In order to ensure inclusion of the various opinions and experiences among the

different participants in this study, study participants from diverse professions were selected and

the distribution is shown in Figure 4.6 below. All these were found to have interest in matters of

road safety and were fully involved in road safety planning and implementation and policy

formulation or in post-crash care, emergency medical response, and trauma care in relation to

road traffic crashes.

Number of Partipants According to profession

2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
er er ce
r n an ne
r st
ne ne cia m o lo
gi
g i g i offi tis ire ti ti o
En En e St
a F ac ci
vi l c lic pr So
Ci affi Po
Tr a lth
/
ay He
g hw
Hi

Figure 4.6: Number of participants according to profession

4.2.4 Areas of interest

Many participants were linked to more than one area of interest, according to area of work. The

most common are road safety planning, data collection of traffic crashes, road safety

enforcement, and data analysis from traffic accidents. These interests were found to be closely

connected to the study's objectives, and the study participants were discovered to be in the best

51
position to engage appropriately and professionally. Figure 4.7 gives distribution of participants

according to the areas of interest.

Number of respondents according to area of in-

terest
8
6
4
2
0

Figure 4.7: Number of responses according to area of interest

4.2.5 Experience

All the study participants have experience in road safety ranging from four years to over 25

years. This gave a fair mix of knowledge and understanding in road safety, with majority of

participants having experience of over 11 years. The information supplied by responders is

regarded trustworthy and dependable because of their extensive knowledge in the subject of road

safety. See Figure 4.8 below:

N u m b e r o f p a r ti c i p a n t s i n t h e g r o u p w i t h t h e s t a t e d
y e a r s o f e x p e r i e n c e i n r o a d s a f e t y o r r e l a t e d fi e l d

8
6
6 5
4
2
2 1
0
<5 years 5-10years 11-20years >20yea

Figure 4.8: Years of experience in road safety or related field

52
4.3 Interview Data and Analysis

In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted between 4th November 2021 and 22nd

November 2022. As stated already, the interviews targeted 13 participants and 13 participants

were interviewed (see Table 4.5). The purpose of these interviews was to obtain an

understanding of how addressing road traffic crash data gaps and challenges would enhance road

safety on Zambian roads. The study sought to investigate the following questions:

1. Does RTSA and Zambia Police collect enough road traffic crash data to enable road

safety planning and implementation and lead to improvement of road safety?

2. What are the challenges of collecting road traffic crash data and using it for road

safety planning and implementation?

3. What model can the RTSA develop to gather as much data as possible while avoiding

challenges in the processing of critical traffic crash statistics to enable effective road

safety planning and implementation?

Answers to the above questions would confirm whether resolving data gaps and challenges in

road traffic crashes enabled sufficient road safety planning and implementation to minimize

future road traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities.

4.4 Presentation of the Research Findings

The research study's findings are presented in line with the 25 interview questions obtained

through semi-structured interviews and the demographical questionnaire given in Appendix I and

as per the specific objectives of the study. The conclusions were based on the data that were

collected and processed. The presentation and discussion are in accordance with the study's

literature review, research design, methodology, and conceptual framework of road safety and

road traffic crashes.

53
4.4.1 Road Traffic Crash Data Gaps

The interview questions in this section turned up responses that focused on identifying gaps in

the road traffic crash data, the causes of these gaps, and how to prevent or seal them. The

research sought to identify gaps in the road traffic crash data currently being collected by ZP and

shared with RTSA and other road safety stakeholders; if the data are complete, adequate, factual,

valid, and reliable, and if the crash data are relevant for road safety planning and implementation

and policy formulation.

While all the study participants agreed that the road traffic crash data are mostly inadequate and

at times irrelevant, nine study participants insisted that, despite the gaps, the data had been useful

for formulating methods to prevent crashes and for development of policy in road safety.

Relevant road safety institutions have been providing useful information though not complete.

The road traffic crash data has especially been possible for urban areas where data collecting

institutions such as ZP and RTSA are present. However, a good number of road crashes remain

unrecorded in rural areas and even in some urban areas, particularly when the crashes are not

fatal. The Zambian government has frequently had to rely on these insufficient and, sometimes,

incorrect data from road traffic crashes in order to develop road safety policies.

Zambia’s road traffic crash data is collected by ZP who, in most cases, miss out vital data such as

exact locations of road traffic crashes, weather conditions, geometric road characteristics at or

near the crash site, night-lighting, specific characteristics of vehicles, vehicle maneuver type,

injured pedestrians’ position, and movement, traffic regulation, signage and signaling, restraints

systems in vehicles, frequency of accidents on a particular road section, and tests to determine if

the driver was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. One of the participants (male, 31)

bemoaned the inadequacies in the ZP primary data collection, saying, “unfortunately, I tend, at

54
times, to have problems with police reports, because they're not as detailed (as they should be).”

He further notes, “You know, we need to improve or build their (ZP) capacity. Because, for

example, if you look at a typical report of the police, it only gives the information that an

accident happened and vehicles were moving from one direction to another, and they talk about

who may have caused the accident, but don't go into the details.”

Three study participants indicated that, in order to improve road sections that have in the past

been known to be prone to road traffic crashes, they embarked on a parallel data collection

exercise and insisted on variables that were relevant for improving road infrastructure and

eliminating the identified blackspots as they could not use ZP data to improve road sections in a

bid to prevent future accidents because ZP data was inadequate and undependable. Two

respondents (male, 31; male, 52) described an instance in which RDA was able to propose an

intervention of constructing sand pits on the roadside of a dangerous section of Road T2 between

Chirundu and Kafue, using its own collected road traffic crash data (other than that sourced from

ZP), to enable stopping vehicles that lose their breaks as they ascend or descend steep slopes.

The location of these sand pits was determined by these road traffic crash data obtained by RDA

in collaboration with Chirundu and Siavonga Town Councils and their respective fire

departments.

All the participants agreed that inadequate and unreliable data negatively impacted road traffic

crash prevention. Not enough information is available to adequately plan reduction of road

accidents or severity of crashes and injuries and to prevent deaths. These data gaps exist and a

deliberate plan needs to be devised by all road safety stakeholders to find a solution to this

problem.

55
4.4.2 Road Traffic Crash Data Challenges

The interviews conducted under this variable were designed to identify difficulties in collecting

data on road traffic accidents. Data storage and analysis, as well as whether the data could be

shared, were also recognized as issues. Other difficulties found included the fact that data is

collected, stored, and analyzed manually, and ZP has been hesitant to transition to electronic and

automatic data collecting, storage, and analysis methods. Manual techniques have a high rate of

human error, a long processing time, ambiguous fields and formatting, a vast volume of data to

handle, a lack of focus, and insufficient quality control.

All the research participants agreed that road traffic crash data challenges were at the center of

failure by road safety stakeholders to collaborate and exchange vital crash data to improve road

safety. The most common of these challenges included lack of or poor communication between

the stakeholders. Collected data cannot easily be shared. Further, low budgetary allocation and

lack of manpower made it difficult for data collection to be carried out and this led to collection

of inadequate and sometimes unreliable data.

Eight study participants indicated that data collected by ZP is not readily available and

stakeholders encountered excessive complexity, delay and/or inaction whenever they requested

data from Zambia Police for road safety planning and implementation purposes. It was also

revealed by four other participants that the AIS, which aims to improve the reporting and

analysis of road traffic crash data, had not been fully implemented by ZP and RTSA because the

two parties involved in the AIS have not agreed to the operation and control of the system. These

participants made it obvious that the AIS's manner of operation was unsuitable for ZP, which is a

security wing, hence the non-operation of the system. In its current form, the AIS compromises

the ZP and Zambia’s national security and may, therefore, not be implemented any time soon.

56
There have also been issues with data sharing between ZP (the primary data collectors) and

emergency service providers such as fire departments and hospitals. Four study participants

stated that despite efforts to have all stakeholders (road safety agencies such as RTSA, ZP, RDA,

MTL, health facilities, and the fire departments) collaborate and interconnect, there has been

very little information sharing and communication, and as a result, road safety program

implementation has been slow and uncoordinated.

All participants agreed that Zambia lacks proper systems for collecting, storing, and analyzing

road traffic crash data, limiting the country's ability to monitor, effectively back, manage, and

efficiently enhance road safety. RTSA and ZP also do not possess the requisite equipment and

software for carrying out road traffic crash data collection and analysis.

4.4.3 Enhancing Road Safety

Eleven of the 14 research participants agreed that the quality of road traffic crash databases, as

one of the key data sources for road safety research, is crucial for the accuracy of crash analysis

and, as a result, the formulation of effective countermeasures sought to improve road safety.

There is a need to address data adequacy and reliability issues in road traffic crashes by

improving data errors in crash location and time, challenges in data linkage due to database

discrepancies, severity misidentification, factual errors and incomplete information of involved

users' sociodemographic characteristics, and incorrect identification of crash possible causes.

Thus, the primary data collected by the ZP has to improve to close up all the gaps. Further, study

participants indicated that, for ZP to enhance its data collection and to be able to provide more

relevant data, it must be given clear objectives and all the variables to look out for whenever they

embarked on road traffic crash data collection.

57
Four study participants indicated that collecting more detailed road traffic crash data alongside

traffic data by agencies tasked to design and construct roads (RDA, MLGRD, and local road

authorities) would assist in sealing the gaps and getting over some of the challenges experienced.

One respondent (male, 52) shared, “to ensure that the data are complete and reliable, the research

unit under the Planning and Design Department (of the RDA) has planned to collaborate with

RTSA to ensure that data collected is complete and reliable by way of formulating a standard

user-friendly template to be used for collection of data. While this is yet to be implemented, it

will call for retraining of traffic police, firemen in the councils, RDA, and RTSA staff. Besides,

there will be need to capacitate these institutions with the vital equipment to enable them collect

data that will be reliable and complete.” This view was also shared by 10 of the 13 participants

who further noted that road safety stakeholders need to continue collaborating and jointly

training staff that are in charge of road traffic crash data collection.

Some of the respondents (three in number) agreed that the Zambian government, through the

relevant overseeing ministry, must increase the road safety budget, hire more personnel, and

appoint a qualified person to superintend over an inter-sectoral committee for road traffic crash

data collection and to create a national road traffic crash database for analysis, research,

decision-making, implementing some road safety interventions, and policy formulation.

Nine study participants emphasized the importance of having easy access to reliable and

adequate crash data in order for road safety planners to make appropriate recommendations on

improvements in road traffic crash prevention, road safety education, and road infrastructure

improvement to prevent a recurrence of road crashes. These recommendations might be of the

short, medium, or long-term kind. ZP and RTSA can create a dataset of all road traffic crashes in

Zambia that is routinely updated, say, every hour, and that can be accessible for free or at a fee.

58
All study participants agreed that a consistent way of road traffic accident investigation and

reporting by police and RTSA should be established, utilizing well-designed standard forms that

could be filled manually or electronically. For faster data gathering, data collectors must be

supplied with and must be able to use current, electronic equipment such as live roadside

cameras, GPS devices, and dash cameras mounted on all police cars and on selected volunteers’

vehicles who frequently utilize public roads.

It was also generally agreed by respondents that designated officers could be assigned to monitor

reported accidents, respond rapidly to incidents, and gather main data linked to road traffic

crashes. ZP must also upgrade its data gathering methods through the use of social media and

other smartphone applications that allow members of the public to report and share details about

accidents wherever and whenever they occur.

Overall, it was agreed by 11 out of 13 respondents that there has to be technological will, more

than political will, by data gatherers and their superiors, to be able to use the available

technology and collect data by electronic means to improve the speed of collection, quality of

data collected, storage means, and the ability of data to be easily shared among stakeholders and

with the public. One respondent (male, 46) commented, “The analysis that we are doing is not

very technical… That's why we want to develop capacity in road accident investigations to go

beyond what is being done because our stakeholders also who are collecting this information do

not have that ability to do serious accident site reconstructions and get the data as it should be.”

He added, “… there has to be willingness at the top to be able to get this data. You need policy.

You can say you need political will to make this work. Also, you need the technical will at the

top because we are looking to really leverage on technology because it's much easier to collect

data these days using technology.”

59
Furthermore, seven research participants stated that accurate and complete road traffic crash data

would benefit the formulation, execution, and evaluation of road safety programs targeted at

lowering crash tolls. It would aid in the knowledge of operational road traffic problems, the

location of dangerous road sections, and the identification of risk factors. It would also aid in the

development of accurate diagnoses and corrective procedures, as well as the evaluation of the

success of road safety initiatives.

All respondents agreed that the operationalization of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal

Security Safe City Project (SCP) will help with the collection of real-time traffic crash data as

well as near-misses, which will improve road traffic crash data collection and analysis and,

eventually, the closing of gaps. The SCP, Zambia's public surveillance camera project, consists

of surveillance fixed and mobile/portable IP cameras that transmit data using wireless and fiber

optic systems, as well as a data center with storage, servers, and built-in applications to collect

speed detection data as well as video detection to trace, analyze, and recognize vehicles, as well

as the capability of radar and video-based detection (Zulu, 2020).

According to four respondents, ZP may continue to be unforthcoming to publicly and easily

disclose accident data since some of the traffic crash incidents may be reasonably considered to

be criminal in nature, and providing such data may jeopardize criminal investigations. It is

therefore agreed that all accident data can only be released to other road safety stakeholders and

the general public after careful re-evaluation of all data. Participants also agreed that it is now up

to stakeholders to settle for quick data release times and the required variables so as to enable

road safety planning and implementation.

60
4.4 Concluding Summary

Findings from semi-structured interviews were presented in this chapter. The analysis revealed

some of the gaps and challenges in road traffic crash data collection practices. The majority of

the road traffic crash data was discovered to be inadequate and incomplete. Further, study

participants agreed that the road safety sector required critical and full data to allow road safety

planning, execution, and policy formation. Improving data collection methods and equipment, as

well as digitizing the process, would go a long way toward enhancing road safety in Zambia, as

adequate and shareable data would be available at all times for road safety planning and

implementation, policy formulation, road infrastructure design and construction, road safety

education, and road traffic law enforcement.

The following chapter provides a discussion of results as analyzed in the above sections. More

detail is given of the results and their meaning, why they matter, and if they are significant

and/or relevant.

61
 Chapter 5: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

5.1 Introduction

From the results stated in Chapter 4, it can be seen that road safety stakeholders have to utilize

accurate and comprehensive road traffic crash data to assist avoiding future traffic crashes and,

as a result, enhance road safety (Abdulhafedh, 2017). Gaps and challenges in the gathered road

traffic crash data have prompted the creation of new systems and processes to address them and,

in turn, improve road safety.

It has been confirmed that road traffic crash data is generally rendered useless or meaningless as

a result of data gaps, and the challenges in data collection suggest that collected data for practical

use remains a problem. It can also be seen that the sufficiency of the crash data has a bearing on

the overall safety intervention (WHO, 2006). All road safety efforts, thus, depend on road safety

stakeholders being aware of the road traffic crash data gaps and challenges and embarking on

novel systems and methods to collect as much data as possible, and in the easiest and most

effective way, and eventually closing the gaps and overcoming the challenges in data collection.

5.2 Enhancing Road Safety

It is suggested that most of the road crash data collection and analysis efforts in Zambia have

been haphazard, uncoordinated, and ineffective. It was further found that road safety

stakeholders’ road traffic crash data variables identification and recording has somewhat suffered

many difficulties and could not be done correctly and in full. A lack of accurate data has a

significant impact on effective management and the delivery of positive road safety

interventions.

The use of historical crash-based strategies provides information on anticipated future crashes as

well as a more complete knowledge of crash risk. The type of crash, geographic location

62
(coordinates) of accidents, type of road, time of accident, injured persons (whether fatally,

seriously, or slightly injured), number of vehicles involved, weather conditions, night-lighting,

specific characteristics of vehicles, type of vehicle, number of drivers and passengers involved,

geometric road characteristics, vehicle maneuver type, injured pedestrians’ position and

movement, traffic regulation, road signage and signaling, driver’s license category and year

obtained, sketch depicting accident scene, restraints systems in vehicle, and alcotest results, are

required to be collected by ZP, however, a good number of these variables are usually missing,

resulting in road traffic crash data gaps. In addition, traffic volume, population data, traffic crash

deaths and injuries, average speeds, protective equipment fitment and use, prevalence of drinking

and driving, network and vehicle safety quality are some of the key safety data necessary to form

policy for a country like Zambia.

As already stated, the ZP are the primary data collectors. Their road traffic crash data collection

methods, forms, and systems make it impossible to collect adequate crash data to enable proper

planning and implementation of road safety in Zambia. It is generally agreed by all study

participants that all these gaps would be identified and addressed by providing a standard form to

all data collectors. This form would ensure that all the relevant variables are noted and are

provided in a report at agreed times and in the relevant forms. Road safety agencies must,

therefore, obtain detailed guidance on how to establish and improve crash data systems,

including assessing existing data sources, developing a crash report form, engaging key

stakeholders, developing a crash data system, and ensuring the quality of this data (Turner,

Breen, & Howard, 2015).

This research also confirms that road traffic crash data gaps exist and that no meaningful road

safety interventions can be carried out when adequate data is lacking and/or unavailable. The

63
combination of various sources of road traffic and road traffic crash data can lead to a more

thorough understanding of the road safety challenge and a higher capability to implement

effective solutions to this problem (WHO, 2006). This has been seen from the case of RDA that

undertook to collect its own road traffic crash data for a stated period in conjunction with

Siavonga and Chirundu Town Councils Fire Departments that saw the development of designs of

road safety measures in one problematic section of the Lusaka-Chirundu Road.

Many stakeholders can utilize accurate and comprehensive road safety statistics to assist enhance

road safety. It is agreed that ICT forms the backbone for collecting and analyzing road traffic

crash data. Errors will greatly be reduced or avoided if data is collected and analyzed

electronically (Abdulhafedh, 2017). Further, nearly all the participants emphasize that providing

modern equipment such as GPS and cameras, and information and communication technology

(ICT) forms and necessary software would assist in collecting accurate data and thereby avoiding

the gaps. ICT forms have the following advantages:

1. Data can be sent electronically;

2. Logic and consistency checks are included;

3. Database is automatically completed;

4. Completes data at the scene; and

5. Detects crash location automatically.

However, for a country like Zambia, manual, paper-based data-collection and reporting forms

are used all the time and will remain in use for a long time to come. In this instance, authorities

have to be strict with the collection of data such that all the key variables are collected and

analyzed for safety planning and implementation purposes (Abdulhafedh, 2017).

64
At the top of the road traffic rash data challenges is road safety stakeholders lack of or poor

communication among themselves and their failure to cooperate. In this case, collected data

cannot easily be shared. Study participants generally agreed that this is a major issue and will

require determining as soon as possible to assist resolve road safety issues. For instance, while

the use of health-care data is required to supplement police data and give an appropriate

technique of determining serious road traffic injury, it is rare that such data is shared with

primary data collectors, the ZP. This has been due to the stakeholders’ failure to collaborate and

communicate. Health personnel generally feel that their main duty is to save lives and they will

collect data related to severity of injury and the recovery progress, but they would not share such

data with the ZP or RTSA. It would take a deliberate policy by parent government ministries (in

this case, MTL, Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security [MHAIS], Ministry of Housing,

Infrastructure, and Urban Development [MHIUD], and Ministry of Health [MOH]) to compel the

stakeholders to share data freely and openly among themselves and to communicate without

hindrance on issues concerning safety on roads (Kondratiev et al., 2015).

Stakeholders encounter excessive complexity, delay and/or inaction whenever they request data

from ZP for road safety planning and implementation purposes. Stakeholders’ failure to

cooperate and exchange vital crash data to improve road safety, and lack of or poor

communication between the stakeholders have made it difficult to collect adequate road traffic

crash data and share it among stakeholders. In addition, Zambia lacks proper systems for

collecting, storing, and analyzing road traffic crash data, limiting the country's ability to monitor,

effectively back, manage, and efficiently enhance road safety (Biemba et al., 2014). RTSA and

ZP also do not possess the requisite equipment and software for carrying out road traffic crash

data collection and analysis. Data is mainly stored and shared via manual means, on paper, and

65
transmitted by hand. Thus, it is not surprising that road traffic crash data is easily lost and

compromised. It is also known that manual techniques have a high rate of human error, a long

processing time, ambiguous fields and formatting, a vast volume of data to handle, a lack of

focus, and insufficient quality control. Sharing crash data is also slow and its availability cannot

not be guaranteed. This problem has been exacerbated by primary data collectors’ hesitance to

transition to electronic and automatic data collecting, storage, and analysis methods. Other road

safety stakeholders have also complained that it is nearly impossible to obtain the required data

and on time as the police follow their own procedures to releasing data to other stakeholders and

this may disadvantage road safety design and implementation efforts.

Further, the road safety sector has suffered low budgetary allocation and lacked required

manpower such that data collection has been inadequate and it sometimes turned in unreliable

facts. Lack of funds or less funds dedicated to road traffic crash data collection and analysis

imply that authorities cannot acquire equipment or software for easier and adequate data

collection and analysis and to help improve road safety.

Though the AIS aims to improve the reporting and analysis of road traffic crash data and easier

sharing of data by all stakeholders, it has not, as cited in the “Report of the Auditor General”

(2015), been implemented and may well be a white elephant as there is no willingness by the

major stakeholders to realize it. The AIS’s manner of operation is unsuitable for ZP as it

compromises the ZP and Zambia’s internal security and may, therefore, not be implemented any

time soon. Stakeholders need to work out ways to safely and fully implement the AIS without

compromising national security and the operations of ZP.

Although the quality and quantity of data on road traffic crashes from other sources such as the

fire department, hospitals, members of the public, and insurance companies, may be inferior to

66
police-reported data, it is still important and may help close data gaps, complement police data,

and thus improve road safety.

5.3 Chapter Summary

There is little question that authorities will be able to plan and implement road traffic crash

prevention strategies, as well as dramatically improve communication and response systems,

with the essential crash data easily available to road designers and for future road safety

measures. As a result, the RTSA and ZP must aim to expand the capacity of road traffic crash

data collectors so that the data obtained is completely reflective of the variables needed for road

safety planning, implementation, and policy development. If Zambia wants to achieve progress

in road safety, communication and data sharing among stakeholders is a critical issue that must

be addressed. Despite significant progress made in prevention of road traffic crashes, Zambia is

still far from its goal, and the situation is likely to worsen if data collection remains difficult and

gaps persist.

67
 Chapter 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Although Zambia has a formal system of regularly recording road traffic crashes, the data

collected is mostly not adequate and there are usually many challenges related to the data

collection processes. Authorities must, therefore, increase the budgetary allocation to the road

safety sector, and communication and cooperation among stakeholders must improve, while they

willingly switch to quicker and more accurate digital systems, to enable easier and more useful

data collection.

All stakeholders must highlight the collection of data from various sources and assist in the

development of a multidisciplinary database that will offer necessary and relevant data to

anybody in the road safety sector who requires it. Stakeholders must participate actively in the

data gathering and analysis system for road traffic accidents.

In addition, new systems must be developed. Stakeholders in road safety may have to work

together or separately to acquire and implement a consistent, integrated system for documenting

and reporting traffic incidents. As a result, a software program that makes gathering, analyzing,

transmitting, and reporting data on traffic crashes easier could be desired. Depending on their

demands, this application could give various road safety stakeholders varied degrees of access to

the system. For example, ZP could have access to all data relating to road accidents as well as

any criminal data, but RTSA may be limited to variables pertaining to infrastructure,

environmental, human, and vehicular causes of crashes, while RDA and MLGRD may be limited

to access infrastructure and human aspects of the crash data.

The ZP must continue to perform its function as an independent institution with a primary

interest in collecting and analyzing high-quality road traffic collision data, as well as reporting

road traffic crash incidents. When developing the data collection and analysis system,

68
stakeholders must use precise definitions of what must be reported, as well as assess the expected

use and benefits for accident prevention goals.

Overall, all road safety stakeholders must recognize that in order to prevent future traffic

incidents and decrease or avoid injuries and deaths, they must work together and guarantee that

each of them contributes positively to data collecting, analysis, storage, and sharing initiatives.

69
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 APPENDIX I: Interview Guide

PART A: Background information

Date of interview:
Name of person interviewed:
Gender:
Age:
Profession:
Current position, previous positions if relevant:
A1. What is your main road safety related activities? (select all that apply)
 road safety planning
 road safety education
 road traffic crash data collection
 road traffic crash data analysis
 road safety audits
 road safety enforcement
 road infrastructure design and construction
 road safety policy formulation
 post-crash care, emergency medical services response, and trauma care
 Research
 Other (please specify)
A2. How many years have you been working in the field of road safety or related field?
 <5 years 5-10years
 11-20years
 >20years
PART B: Road Traffic Crash Data Gaps
B1. Does road traffic crash data record the type of crash, geographic location (coordinates), type of road, time of
accident, injured persons (fatally, seriously, slightly), number of vehicles involved, weather conditions, night-
lighting, specific characteristics of vehicles, type of vehicle, number of drivers and passengers involved, geometric
road characteristics, vehicle maneuver type, injured pedestrians’ position, and movement, traffic regulation, signage
and signaling, driver’s license – category and year, sketch, restraints systems in vehicle, and alcotest results?
B2. Are the collected road traffic crash data adequate and reliable? If the data are not complete and reliable, state
what causes the data to be incomplete and unreliable? What measures has your agency or department instituted to
ensure that the data are complete and reliable?
B3. Please state how any of the road traffic crash data being of low adequacy and/or low reliability would affect
overall fact finding and diagnosis of road safety issues.
B4. Are the road safety institutions providing factual and valid information on road accidents, injuries and risk to the
citizens?
B5. Do health facilities record road accident injured persons and state the cause of hospitalization?
PART C: Road Traffic Crash Data Challenges
C1. Have you been involved with road traffic crash data collection, storage, and/or analysis?
C2. If the answer to question C1 is yes, what are the challenges to data collection, storage, and/or analysis?
C3. Is crash data collected, stored, and or analyzed manually or automatically? What are the difficulties in manual or
electronic data collection?
C4. What are the challenges of collecting road traffic crash data and using it for road safety planning and
implementation?
C5. How would the difficulties in collection, analysis, and sharing of road traffic crash data affect data adequacy and
reliability?
C6. Is there a technical inter-sectoral institution endowed with a statutory budget for road traffic crash data
collection, analysis, research, preparation of decisions, and/or to implement some road safety interventions? Is the
said budget sufficient? If not, how does this affect the institutions’ primary responsibility for road safety?

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C7. Are the transport sector players, enforcement sector, and health sector actively advocating the need for road
traffic data collection and taking road safety action? Is lack of adequate funding or coordination among them
hampering their functions?
C8. Are the human resources needed to collect road traffic crash data adequate for road infrastructure design and
construction, traffic planning, traffic education, driver training and licensing, publicity campaigns, enforcement, or
health?
C9. Are sustainable and reliable systems in place to collect and manage road traffic crash data on behavioral
indicators such as vehicle speeds, safety belt wearing rates, alcohol-impaired driving, or any other?
C10. Are road traffic crash data systematically made available to the decision-makers and policy-makers in the
country?
PART D: Enhancing Road Safety
D1. Do you use any national road traffic crash databases for road safety planning and implementation and policy
formulation?
D2. Please state how the availability, reliability, and adequacy of the crash data and resources would contribute to
the development of road safety related programs.
D3. Does Zambia Police and RTSA collect enough road traffic crash data to enable road safety planning and
implementation? If not, what can be done to enable Zambia Police and RTSA to collect adequate data?
D4. Does adequate road traffic crash data, collected by RTSA and Zambia Police, lead to improvement of road
safety?
D5. What model can the RTSA develop to gather as much data as possible while avoiding challenges in the
processing of critical traffic crash statistics to enable effective road safety planning and implementation?
D6. Explain how accurate and adequate road traffic crash data would improve the development, implementation,
and assessment of road safety programs aimed at reducing crash tolls.
D7. Do the health facilities record the number of road traffic crash injured persons in need of post-crash care? Is this
data readily available to other road safety stakeholders to compare with other road traffic crash data?
D8. Are other data sources such as vehicle dash cams, social media, and road side security cameras used to verify
road traffic crash claims and evidence of causes of crashes?
D9. Has some action been taken on the basis of the outcome of the analysis of road traffic crash data? If not, what
has prevented the action being taken? What has been done to enable action based on the outcome of analysis of road
traffic crash data?
D10. Are results of road traffic crash data analyses actually used in formulating the country’s road safety policy? If
not, how is the national road safety policy formulated?

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 APPENDIX II: Transcription sample

Nkosi 7.m4a

Speaker1: [00:00:02] The first part is just like, um, the information, about you, the respondent or the participant.
So, this is a qualitative study with regard to, uh, the topic, “addressing road traffic crash data gaps and challenges to
enhance road safety in Zambia.” I’m carrying out this study as part of fulfillment of the degree of the master in
business administration at the University of Zambia. So, it being a qualitative study, I'm supposed to do an in-depth
interview. First, we can talk now in case later on, you may have some further information you need to share, you're
free to say something, and then I can still include that part as part of the response. My sample is only 13 people. I
used the purposive sampling technique looking at those who are qualified and competent enough to respond to this
interview. To start with, uh, I've already got your name, Kondwelani Nkosi. Ok, yeah. And your age is indicated
there, 31. I'm just repeating these just for the purpose of the recording so that I'll be able to track it. You are a civil
engineer, that's your profession. And then mainly you are involved in road safety planning and road safety audits.
And infrastructure design and construction…

Speaker2: [00:02:26] A bit of…

Speaker1: [00:02:26] This and a bit of policy formulation in road safety. Excellent. Yeah. So then, uh, there you've
been in the industry for just about the last five years, OK. In road safety. Yes, that is. Ok, so we go to the next
section. We just completed the first section, which is the background information. The second section, the Part B is
about road traffic crash data gaps. So usually, with just a little bit of introduction, this is the data that is usually
collected by Zambia Police and, uh, not sure by RTSA as well. And the data they use it for policy formulation for
road safety planning. I trust they also share that information with the other RDA for improvement of certain road
sections, improvement of the intersections, you know, just to make sure that safety is improved and also generally
for design of new roads. Not sure if this is done, but it would be a subject of what is being discussed today. So, the
first question, uh, does road traffic crash data that you receive, or is recorded, does it have all this information if you
do get any from RTSA or Zambia police, does it have the crash type of the crash, your geographic location that is in
terms of location, the coordinates, the type of road, time of accident, how many injured persons were involved, the
number of vehicles involved, the weather conditions, night lighting, you know, in that world. Um, the the specific
characteristics of vehicles that were involved, the type of vehicle number of drivers, passengers involved, the
geometric road characteristics, vehicle maneuver type injured, but it is quite a list here. Now do you think are you
saying, is this all information provided in case you were asking for a traffic crash data for use?

Speaker2: [00:04:55] I think Manchester is near. Uh, yes, we do get the traffic press data from the road. From the
Road Transport Safety Agency, they publish their annual statistics, which they share with us, as they do with other
stakeholders in the sector and the sector. And as regards to any gaps, I think yes, I've noted a couple of gaps. For
starters, I think these are some of these gaps would ordinarily be from the police. We don't get any such data from
the from the police. We have had some incidences where I've been involved in some exercises, where we've done
some road accident investigations. I think one of the ones that I wrote last year was the famous collision course in
the T2 South. But as you head towards zero one to four, we will at it with various traffic data. This mostly came
from the local authority who gave us the types of questions that we experienced.

Speaker1: [00:05:52] The local authority you mentioned.

Speaker2: [00:05:54] Yes, it's the local. The council. Yes. Oh, OK. So what is the council? She ruined. Uh huh..
Yes, so and in particular, the fire services department from these two councils. So the data that they gave us for the
crash data. I mean, the seasonal variations. Yes, the nationalities of the drivers and the directions, whether the
vehicles from coming up this way or going down that route. And also the age of the drivers and the timings. Think
this this data was important as it fed into the interventions that we implemented to the safety and not just think in the
last year or so. Yeah, it's been quiet on that road. Many. As many questions, yes, they also some long term
recommendations that that development are more capital intensive. But what is way we derived from the crash data
that was was given to us? Ok. I think the gaps are there. Ok? Is that we'll do OK?

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Speaker1: [00:07:01] Ok? So, would you say the data that you received? Was it reliable? Was it adequate?

Speaker2: [00:07:07] Yes, it was reliable. Yes, I did. But I think there's still room for improvement.

Speaker1: [00:07:12] So you say it wasn't really complete? Yes. Ok, because it's a number of gaps. So what
measures do you think should be carried out to improve the data

Speaker2: [00:07:26] As a tool to improve or

Speaker1: [00:07:28] Improve data collection?

Speaker2: [00:07:30] Yeah. Well, it's a I think data collection. I think when it's best practices in the region and and
in the West is, I think there's the embedding of cities to the actual real time data collection to do the planning, the
special planning, because if you do it real time, think even apps for that, you've got to get things like geographic
coordinates you about, get pictures in real time and whatnot, OK? You could speak to a guy that writes, I know there
was a program that

Speaker1: [00:08:01] Began, Yeah, actually. I spoke to two people yesterday at that site, so we have to stick to two
more. This is one thing that came out from them. The use of City. Yes. Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:08:13] So it is really, really close a lot of these gaps, but it's basically a matter of programming an
interface which requires all this information to be entered. Unfortunately, I didn't attend, according to police reports,
because they're not as detailed. Ok.

Speaker1: [00:08:30] So the police, Zambia police are the main data collectors.

Speaker2: [00:08:34] Yeah. You know, we need to improve or build their capacity. Yeah. Because, for example,
yes, if you look at a typical report and pick up some here, your basic, I said it was happening. Yeah, it's waste time,
but don't go into

Speaker1: [00:08:49] The into the details. Ok, so there's

Speaker2: [00:08:52] There's room for improvement

Speaker1: [00:08:53] There. Yeah. So that actually is a challenge for the police. Maybe they don't have adequate
funds. They don't have adequate personnel to carry out that work. And also, they're not properly equipped. And as a
result, they're not able to provide all the information that you need. Ok. All right. So instead, how end of the road
traffic crash data being of low quality or low adequacy or low reliability would affect over a fact finding and
diagnosis of road safety issues? How would it affect you as a road designer?

Speaker2: [00:09:30] Well, so as a as a road designer, I'll try and draw a parallel from a medical and medical case.
If you if you go to the hospital and the doctor doesn't get a thorough diagnosis. It means most likely that the
medicines that will be given or prescribed may not actually address the heart of the matter. So similarly, in road
safety, I think the adequacy of a road plus data is proportional to the intervention interventions we've proposed. Ok.
So, for example, there are some things that may not necessarily be evident in the road. First, that maybe an example
is, uh, the, uh, the timings or the internal operations of these accidents, if not fully captured. You may end up putting
it in the bins, and that doesn't address the heart of the matter. Ok. So to answer your question, yes, the adequacy of
the crash data has a bearing on the overall intervention.

Speaker1: [00:10:26] Okay. All right. So what about the institutions that have been targeted? So to that, they've got
a job to collect data and provide this data to you, for example, parties and rats? Are they providing factual and valid
information on road accidents, injuries and risk to their citizens? Uh, yes, I'll say it's factual.

Speaker2: [00:10:52] I'm sorry, but my daddy died. Yes, the law, though adequacy is what, uh, what we see, and I
tend to believe that a lot of that is also missed.

83
Speaker1: [00:11:03] Ok? Was in the system to capture everything. Ok. Ok. All right. What about have you
interacted with the hospitals that receive accident victims, for instance? Those were the injured persons, you know,
the fatalities in your interaction. If there's been any, have you had any data collected from them?

Speaker2: [00:11:29] Right. So yes, I've interacted with various people from the facilities. Ok, I think there's there's
presently memorandum of understanding. Yes. Officers from the Ministry of Health, yes. Uh, but with regards to
them presenting this information and. Being fed into the road design process, I'm not I'm not sure.

Speaker1: [00:11:48] Oh, OK. All right. Ok, so let's quickly jump to the next section that see. Have you been
involved with road traffic crash data collection yourself? The storage and analysis of it? Yes. Yes. Ok. All right. So
if yes, what are the challenges to data collection? The storage and analysis, apart from what you mentioned that
perhaps the Zambia police won't give you adequate, but your years of what were the challenges that you faced in
collection, storage and analysis of data?

Speaker2: [00:12:24] Well, that's one for the for the collection. One of the challenges that we had was just the
amount of time it took us to get this data. Was it? We struggled quite a bit a bit of a back and forth with the officers
from the Toronto local authority.

Speaker1: [00:12:40] Mm hmm.

Speaker2: [00:12:41] So that's one that's presented data collection to its analysis. I think some of the data that's
needed, so it wasn't possible to do a thorough analysis. Yes. Another case in point that that I'm presently involved in
is where I've been in a project of road safety improvements and ActionScript upon the road. And even there were
challenges getting full data over the accident statistics on the intersection between May and June. And so to. Yes.
Ok.

Speaker1: [00:13:17] Ok. Yeah. Ok. So if the is the crash data collected, stored and analyzed the manually or
automatically and do have any software that you use as an individual, as the institution for data collection and
storing? No, no, no, not that. I know. Ok. Do you know of any dataset or database where you can just go get this
information whenever you need it in Zambia? Yes. No. It's OK. All right. So what? And you mentioned that you did
when you were doing your data collection, it was manual, isn't it? Yes. Ok. Right. So where are you able to use that
data for for road safety planning, for in terms of road design, what you collected? Yes, you mentioned the happening
was the scenario. Yes. And so I would say in confidence that it was useful and helped in planning.

Speaker2: [00:14:29] Ok. I think like one one of the the key things that came up from competing is a number of
these accidents tended to be happy where I think where multiple vehicles that were southbound. Ok. And I think one
of the interventions is interventions was, I think, is some sense sun sand pits that have been done on the roadside
vehicles that lose their breath as they are going down. Yeah. But to make use of this, or OK, the location of this was
informed by the safety data. Oh OK.

Speaker1: [00:15:01] Excellent. Ok. So. I think some of this will hurt the difficulties in collection analysis. Did it
affect the adequacy and reliability of data? When OK, is there any technical, intersectoral institution that is in charge
of making a budget for road safety and that anything that you know of, you know, for the traffic crash data
collection analysis research that is overlooking say that the Zambia police, the local authorities and maybe the health
facilities as well, it's there on top and say it has to a budget to to this kind of work. Is there any such thing like the
Minister of Transport and Logistics

Speaker2: [00:16:01] With, I'll say, in the state budget? I don't think there is. Presently there's there are two to
intersectoral committee that I'm a part of. Ok. The first one is the Road Safety Engineering Committee, OK, which
is made up of is chaired by the president, chaired by the Minister for Transport and Communication and other
unions. Let me introduce now. Ok, yeah. And then good membership from the local minister of local government
membership from the RTC. Ok. And then the police. Ok, then the second the second one, which is even a broader
broader group, is the MRU. Yes, not safety. And the road safety event has, apart from this place, has put, uh uh,
private stakeholders, both the Truckers Association of Zambia. Ok, let's put em on each. It's got, uh uh, input. It's it's
it's broader. I think one of the challenges that was being identified with the Amadu is it wrote on the individual
budget lines, the one. But that was

84
Speaker1: [00:17:07] Like that committee itself having its own budget, you know?

Speaker2: [00:17:12] So for example, if I reduce the hidden activity that, yeah, budget line and so

Speaker1: [00:17:16] Would you say it's a challenge that that committee doesn't have its own budget and is not able
to carry out its mandate as a committee because it depends on individual institutions that are part of the

Speaker2: [00:17:29] Committee? Yes, I would agree with that.

Speaker1: [00:17:30] Ok. Oh, right. What about your in terms of human to human resource? Do you think you have
enough human resource to carry out your mandate? That's a intersectoral committee or an institution?

Speaker2: [00:17:51] I think this is one of the areas that has actually been been and in fact, they need to enhance the
capacity of the officers so that we can improve in carrying out our our mandate.

Speaker1: [00:18:03] Ok. Ok.

Speaker2: [00:18:05] What safety quality is involved?

Speaker1: [00:18:07] Ok. What about systems sustainable and reliable systems? Are they in place to collect and
manage road traffic lights on behavioural indicators? Because, you know, and I was reading through, uh, reading the
Raza Annual Report, uh, road traffic crash report. It talks about that in Zambia, 80 percent of more accidents are
caused by because of human, uh, behaviour use of mobile phone over speeding. You know, not much with say to do
with the road infrastructure or the vehicle, you know, faults or is it engineering or other and so on. But mainly it has
to do with the human, uh, actually CSM worldwide in other countries and worldwide. Now do you have systems you
know or in place to collect data and manage it that would target this biggest cause? You're talking of 80 percent.
And if we deal with that, it would definitely reduce accidents in a big way. I know what you're thinking mainly of
infrastructure, but it shouldn't just end there. You should also think about how infrastructure also can deal with the
human part. You know,

Speaker2: [00:19:34] I think as you've ably put, uh, as as our idea, definitely. I think our mandate, it goes in as far
as, uh, the actual infrastructure is concerned. Yet through these emotions and the interactions we this uh, the need
for us to think of behavioural indicators is is key. And I think the recommendations from from these committees,
which factor in these issues are brought to the attention of the agency and these are factored in. So for example, talk
of. Shows like signage, yes, which at times addresses this human component, we as part of our mandate, as we do
conduct assessments and we have, for example, informed of, uh uh, excessive speed or vocational schools, which
has led to more.

Speaker1: [00:20:25] You go and make your adjustments in the signage and the like.

Speaker2: [00:20:29] One of the key ones that we're currently trying to embark on is the new recent memorial and
this campaign to downgrade the minimum speeds from 40 to 30 percent worldwide.

Speaker1: [00:20:42] It say near schools

Speaker2: [00:20:44] And if one goes to the heart of targeting behavioral indicators and in as far as such, issues are
concerned. I read that paper, but with regard to systems, I think this would sit predominantly with the road transport
and safety agency. Ok.

Speaker1: [00:21:00] Ok, so in your capacity, do you share this information? The data that you collect with
policymakers and have you seen, say the Ministry of Transport and Logistics come up with the new policies from
the data that you've collected recommendations and that has been happening like that?

Speaker2: [00:21:22] So just just as a road safety committee was as

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Speaker1: [00:21:26] An individual, as a rider, you representing other deer? Yeah. Or part of the committee?

Speaker2: [00:21:33] Yes. I think part of the committee, like I mentioned, is chaired by the ministry, who also key
for policy formulation. So yes, that

Speaker1: [00:21:43] Would you say you are part of that formula for policy formulation with regard to yes, as part
of the committee, as as that committee itself,

Speaker2: [00:21:54] I I wouldn't I wouldn't say, Oh, OK, yeah, but I think it should be concerned that to strictly
speaking, idea is under the Ministry of uh.

Speaker1: [00:22:05] Yes.

Speaker2: [00:22:06] Yes, yes. So there's that inter-ministerial interrelation. Yeah, I think there's

Speaker1: [00:22:11] You don't mention that actually you are the committee that you are part of to do with safety.
It's being spearheaded by Minister of Transport. Ok, yeah. That's the main thing that we are looking at, as because
the ministry itself means of transport is in charge of policy formulation on road safety. I also do believe that is the
inter-ministerial committee that, yes, that is targeted to road safety. Yeah. Ok, fine. Ok, so let's go to the should for
the last part. Yeah, the last part enhancing road safety. Some of the questions I may jump in because I already have
answers on them. Yeah. You've already mentioned them as we were asking something else. So do you use any
national road traffic crash databases for road safety, planning and implementation? I think you did answer this one.
Ok? Please, please state how they are visibility, liability and the adequacy of that and resources would contribute to
the development of road safety related problems. I would uh, yeah, variability in our ability and the adequacy of
crash data and resources would contribute, how would it help in improving road safety? You know,

Speaker2: [00:23:44] I think there's I think worldwide, I think there's now a movement in terms of in as far as I
think even in academia, but not safety of the need to have data driven solutions to road safety problems. So that's so
it's not so much of going to target behavior, but it's more having these programs filled by data. So this, uh, these
programs correctly put would be enhanced or can be enhanced if the quality of the data is is enhanced as well. Ok.

Speaker1: [00:24:18] Yes, it does. No, I know every day data is collected, but still we do when we go today to some
properties to still find this data, which is inadequate. Ok, because they are reporting in a certain way. Has there been
any engagement with the primary data collectors as to how best they can give you the adequate data?

Speaker2: [00:24:43] All right. Uh, uh.

Speaker1: [00:24:46] Have they been equipped also with the software to to do the data collection? Yes.

Speaker2: [00:24:50] I think from from my from my recent interactions, I meant to believe there's been such, but
not in my tenure here in L.A. they have about two slightly over the last two years, but I if this has happened.

Speaker1: [00:25:04] Ok. Yeah, OK. So uh, is there any model that you've made as an idea to gather as much
information from here, you know, to gather as much information to use in your road safety planning, especially in
the design and to conduct your own road safety audits?

Speaker2: [00:25:28] Uh, so yes, yes,

Speaker1: [00:25:31] Yes, any more data and the model that you have created as a data that would help you in road
safety planning?

Speaker2: [00:25:41] Uh, no, not that I know. Think we a large extent. Uh, some of these interventions, uh, which
are the engines consultants OK for these activities, the road designs? And yeah, I think like when for the bank
financed project, it's been a month that road safety audits should be done. So this is some of the information that
feeds into the road safety planning. Ok.

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Speaker1: [00:26:02] There isn't much on these other projects. I've been involved as the company has, but I'm
personally also in design of roads. Not much has been done, especially with the road safety at planning stage that is
design stage and during construction.

Speaker2: [00:26:22] When you say not much

Speaker1: [00:26:23] Like what you like, maybe the last road where we had it was quite strict on myself going.
Yes, there was a road safety audit during construction, unfortunately. Yeah. And also, you know, there was no audit
before construction started. So that's probably a concern because the recommendations to make some changes in
some places which were not done because the the cry was that we were done this way, we don't have money. We
have to go back to the finances, get money to improve this junction or something like that.

Speaker2: [00:27:11] Yeah, I think I agree with you on one front. But I think even just if you look at the whole
topic of geometric design, I think it's fair or it's there's a lot of input that actually comes from the safety front, but not
the lines of sight stopping distances and whatnot. So all those the offensive perspective and I've noticed there's been
an enhanced approach to consider road safety issues like, I think in the recent past, the most recent, which is the one.
Yes. So I think we've had we had a road safety audit that the feasibility stage included a preliminary OK and then
now the detailed design of the road safety audit. So I think there's an increasing, uh, direction to have more safety
factored in.

Speaker1: [00:27:56] Ok. Do you collect, uh, data from other sources such as vehicle dash cams, social media or
roadside security cameras? With quite a lot in Lusaka now and in other major towns, these roadside security
cameras? And do you get data from there which you are able to use for your safety planning?

Speaker2: [00:28:21] Uh, no. But I think of the ones that you mentioned him from social media generally because
there's often times we hear of complaints. And, of course, as to the ground within the south of us, they've been sent a
number of visits. Ok. That's just gone very far.

Speaker1: [00:28:36] Ok, so it's something that probably could go ahead at say that they're planning to have
dashcam something like that for for which I don't know whether it would be for their vehicles or they will install it
on public vehicles or any vehicle which can collect data on a regular basis. That's why

Speaker2: [00:29:02] I'm not present the all PSP vehicles by law, but to have it what I call speed

Speaker1: [00:29:09] Trackers. Speed trackers, yes, but not dash cameras. Ok, fine. Ok. And then also I was told
about an app. Do you have such a thing as you have like part of being you being part of that committee? Have you
thought of having an app that maybe people in social media, they may have a report and then you can fit into that

Speaker2: [00:29:34] As already we we just have, I think, attracts us. But the experts are feasible. Yes. Just as a
first pitch and yeah, it's electrical in and.

Speaker1: [00:29:44] I terms that is quite active.

Speaker2: [00:29:47] But yeah, I don't have or we don't have any. Oh, OK.

Speaker1: [00:29:50] Ok. What about the outcomes of that?

Speaker2: [00:29:55] So just five minutes? What's up? Ok.

Speaker1: [00:29:58] Ok. Ok. On the analysis of the traffic crash crash data. Um, where you analyze and you talked
about again, I'll refer you back to captain. Yes. So you'd say it's from your analysis. You were able to make the right
decisions as to where to locate white and all that. And that definitely improved road safety.

Speaker2: [00:30:27] Yes. Yes. I mean, maybe one one loop or that maybe would need to see. I think on is coming
up with an m and sort of, uh, framework that if you want to do a safety intervention or

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Speaker1: [00:30:38] To go back up there, yeah, follow ups.

Speaker2: [00:30:42] Yes. And basically see whether, yeah, I guess that I don't think we have that strictly OK for
other people, for road safety. I think that was one witness.

Speaker1: [00:30:54] Ok. Then finally, the results of a traffic crash data analysis, you definitely talked about
formulating the country's road safety policy, which you've been part of as an individual. Is it working? Is something
that needs improvement.

Speaker2: [00:31:16] I think it's it's it's definitely something that needs, needs, needs improvement. And I think
spring from the last my last comment about M and E to those who came to just see how, if, if this policy of these
plans plans are working and know for for for for, for instance, that the previous emergent road safety didn't fully
actualize the intended objectives. I think, because of lack of financing dedicated financing. Ok. And as well, I think
a lack of an M&A framework to periodically check whether we're meeting objectives.

Speaker1: [00:31:49] Ok, fine. Ok, thank you very much. I think that's the end of all the questions for my side. Is
there anything else you want to add to what you've discussed? Uh, it's

Speaker2: [00:31:59] Been a fruitful discussion. Ok. Maybe it would be key if you could also share the thesis of the
end results. Yes. So possibly from further planning.

Speaker1: [00:32:10] And yes, yes, definitely. I'll do that. We'll share the results of our findings with all the key
stakeholders. Hope that this could also provoke further studies that will help improve safety in Zambia.

Speaker2: [00:32:29] But of course, I think I've noticed there's no road safety school

Speaker1: [00:32:33] Cause I know as part of MTC.

Speaker2: [00:32:36] They had already reached advanced stages, formulating a road safety course.

Speaker1: [00:32:41] Yes.

Speaker2: [00:32:42] Yes, no.

Speaker1: [00:32:43] No, no. No.

Speaker2: [00:32:45] The chairperson. Ok. He was.

Speaker1: [00:32:47] He was in talks in Kenya. There's been a coup attempt to say at the Ministry of Principal
Engineer for the country. Okay.

Speaker2: [00:32:55] No, he's not directly, but I think he'll be key to the Typekit as well. Okay.

Speaker1: [00:32:59] All right. Ok, I'm just.

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 APPENDIX III: Informed Consent

THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

Graduate School of Business

Addressing Road Traffic Crash Data Gaps and Challenges to Enhance Road Safety in

Zambia

INFORMED CONSENT

Title of the proposed study:

Addressing Road Traffic Crash Data Gaps and Challenges to Enhance Road Safety in Zambia

Investigators:

Elliot B. Phiri

University of Zambia Graduate School of Business

Phone: +26977758173

Email: [email protected]

Background and rationale for the study:

Background

According to the World Health Organization [WHO] (2010), reliable data is the foundation for effective

road safety management, and its outputs must be used locally and nationally to diagnose road safety problems,

determine appropriate interventions, track progress toward road safety goals, and evaluate the effectiveness of road

safety initiatives.

There are, however, gaps and challenges in road traffic crash data that have rendered collected data not of

much use. This is the case for Zambia where implementation of road safety has been a major test for the

Government given the high number of road traffic crashes reported every year.

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 Zambia's Road Transport and Safety Agency [RTSA] (2019) reports that there were 30,648 road traffic

crashes nationwide in 2019. Road traffic crashes are stated as the third leading cause of death in Zambia, after

HIV/AIDS and malaria, and the second leading cause of death for people aged between 5 and 20 years (“Report of

the Auditor General,” 2015). The “Report of the Auditor General” (2015) also notes that Zambia's Accident

Information System, which aims to improve the reporting and analysis of road traffic crash data, had not been fully

implemented, and that some of the recommendations made by the RTSA in its road audits and safety reports had not

been executed by the RDA and the Local Road Authorities.

Rationale for Study/Statement of the Problem

Gaps and challenges in the gathered road traffic crash data have prompted the creation of new systems and

processes to address them and, in turn, improve road safety. The crash data is generally rendered useless or

meaningless as a result of these data gaps, and the challenges in data collection suggest that collected data for

practical use remains a problem.

Purpose:

The purpose of this study is to identify ways to address road traffic crash data gaps and challenges as a

measure to improve road safety. In a qualitative study, I will conduct interviews with road safety stakeholders,

including the RTSA, Zambia Police, RDA, MTL, and health facilities to determine gaps as well as the challenges

that different stakeholders face in collecting and using data for road safety planning and implementation, highway

design, transportation planning and operations, road maintenance, law enforcement, public health and emergency

response services planning and implementation, and road safety education. The responses to interviews, as well as

the literature, will provide strategies to address identified gaps and issues in road traffic crash data as a means to

improve road safety.

Procedures:

For each of the specific objectives, I shall conduct interviews of the relevant persons responsible for road

safety planning, education, data collection and analysis, and road safety audits at RTSA; those responsible for

enforcement and data collection at Zambia Police; those in charge of road design and construction two from RDA;

Ministry of Transport and Communication key experts responsible for road safety policy formulation and for data

analysis; and health personnel in charge of post-crash care, emergency medical services response, and trauma care at

health facilities. These interviews will record, analyze, and seek to reveal the deeper meaning and relevance of

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human behavior and experience while highlighting gaps in the traffic crash data needed for road safety planning and

execution.

On the basis of the data that I will collect, I will create a theory or look for a pattern of significance. Data

will be recorded in writing form based on in-depth interviews. As previously indicated, I will interview a fixed

number of people, and data collecting will take place in stages, with the process being adjusted mid-way to cover

more topics or drop questions that are no longer relevant based on what is learned during the process.

The interview questions shall be more open-ended, less limited, and more exploratory, allowing

participants to express themselves in a less formal and rigorous manner.

Who will participate in the study?

13 participants will be interviewed, i.e. four will be from Road Transport and Safety Agency as experts in

road safety planning expert, education, data collection and analysis, and road safety audits; two from Zambia Police,

in charge of enforcement and data collection; two from Road Development Agency, in charge of road design and

construction; two from Ministry of Transport and Communication (responsible for road safety policy formulation

and for data analysis); and the three from health facilities, responsible for post-crash care, emergency medical

services response, and trauma care.

Each of these experts will be required to be active in the study for just about 20 minutes as they will be

answering the interview.

Risks/Discomforts:

Anxiety and worry may be experienced by participants, as well as possible misinterpretation of the research

process with an audit or criminal investigation encounter, coercion, and the recognition of a need for additional

assistance and deception are risks/discomforts likely to be faced by participants.

Benefits:

Benefits to participants include the following:

1. Participants may help others and share information with others within their organization or

externally;

2. Participants may gain knowledge, awareness and/or information about how to address road traffic

crash data gaps and challenges in order to plan and implement and improve road safety.

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 3. Educational materials or information received would not ordinarily be acquired but, through

participating in the research, participants would benefit.

Alternatives:

Participation in this study is voluntary such that refusal to participate in any part of the study or to withdraw

entirely will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which the participant is otherwise entitled, and the participant

may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which the participant is otherwise

entitled.

Cost:

All the costs related with the study will be met by the investigator. There will be no cost to be borne by

participants.

Compensation for participation in the study:

Participants to the study will participate as volunteers and they will not be compensated for participating.

If a participant is injured during his or her course of participation, he or she will be compensated the cost of

treatment at a standard government hospital. Since it is unexpected that there will be any injuries during the

interviews, compensations are unlikely. However, in case participants suffer permanent damage due to injury and

they are incapacitated in one way or another, I shall place insurance cover that will ensure lifetime compensation of

monthly payments of a living allowance to the affected persons.

Reimbursement:

In case of travel and opportunity costs, participants may be reimbursed the standard costs as will be

outlined at the start of the study.

Questions:

In case participants have any study-related questions, they can contact the principal investigator by phoning

or emailing using the contact details above, or they can simply reach the University of Zambia Graduate School of

Business by email: [email protected].

Any inquiries concerning the goals of the research or the research procedures will be answered and the

summary of results will be provided upon a request.

Questions about participants rights:

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 In case participants have questions about their rights as research participants, they may address the same

with the principal investigator by phoning or emailing using the contact details above, or they can simply reach the

University of Zambia Graduate School of Business by email: [email protected].

Statement of voluntariness:

I consent to voluntarily, and of my free will, participate in this study concerning addressing road traffic

crash data gaps and challenges to enhance road safety in Zambia. I understand that I will be expected to answer an

interview and or complete a questionnaire. Interview sessions will not exceed twenty minutes and my commitment

will be limited to this period.

I understand that I may stop my involvement in the study for any reason without penalty or loss of

compensation.

I understand that I may decline to answer any question asked of me, and that by doing so I will not be

required to terminate my involvement in the study.

Confidentiality:

The results of this study will be kept strictly confidential, and used only for research purposes. My identity

will be concealed in as far as the law allows. My name will not appear anywhere on the coded forms with the

information. Paper and computer records will be kept under lock and key and with password protection respectively.

The interviewer has discussed this information with me and offered to answer my questions. For any

further questions, I may contact the Chairperson, UNZABREC on the following details:

Tel: +260977925304

E-mail: [email protected]

STATEMENT OF CONSENT/ASSENT

........................................................................... has described to me what is going to be done, the risks, the benefits

involved and my rights regarding this study. I understand that my decision to participate in this study will not alter

my usual medical care. In the use of this information, my identity will be concealed. I am aware that I may withdraw

at anytime. I understand that by signing this form, I do not waive any of my legal rights but merely indicate that I

have been informed about the research study in which I am voluntarily agreeing to participate. A copy of this form

will be provided to me.

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Name:………………………….Signature of participant ……………………..Age..……………

Date (DD/MM/YY)……………………………

Name of Witness……………………………….. Signature of Witness…………………………

Date (DD/MM/YY)…………………………………………….

Name…………………………Signature of parent or guardian for minors ……………………

Date(DD/MM/YY)…………………………

Name……………………………………..Signature of Interviewer ………………………….Date (DD/MM/YY)

………………………...

If you have any further questions please contact the University of Zambia Biomedical Research Ethics Committee

Telephone: +260977925304

Ridgeway Campus

Telegrams: UNZA, LUSAKA

P.O. Box 50110

Telex: UNZALU ZA 44370

Lusaka, Zambia

Fax: + 260-1-250753

E-mail: [email protected]

Assurance No. FWA00000338 IRB00001131 of IOR G0000774

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 APPENDIX IV: Letters of Introduction and Ethical Clearance

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