Road fatalities: are we winning the battle?

The Minister of Transport Sibusiso Ndebele launched a national campaign called “S’hamba Sonke” – “We travel together” in Zulu – on 22 September, to coincide with Transport Month in October. The campaign is aimed at the festive season when many South African road users lose their lives.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) confirmed that September had been the bloodiest month on South Africa’s roads. More than 100 fatalities were recorded on the country’s roads, with 50 deaths occurring in an eight-day period.

Ndebele recently called for the reduction of the speed limit on South Africa’s freeways from 120 kilometres per hour to 100km/h – a recommendation that was received with awe and utter dismay, but also applause from road users.

The RTMC was launched in April 2005 with the main purpose of pooling powers and resources to eliminate the fragmentation of responsibilities for all aspects of road traffic management across the various levels of government in South Africa; and to bring a professional approach and improved confidence into the entire system.

In rolling out the S’hamba Sonke campaign, the Gauteng Provincial Department of Roads and Transport and its counterparts in Community Safety aim to erect a number of roadblocks throughout the province, with law enforcement as an objective.

“We aim to stop 250 000 vehicles every month in Gauteng, and this campaign will extend over the entire festive season,” said Ndebele at the launch. “We will be focusing on drunken drivers; we will insist that all passengers – in the front and the back seats – wear seat belts; we will be checking on the roadworthiness of vehicles; and we will be looking out for fraudulent licences.”

While addressing a crowd of passengers and stakeholders in the transport business at a launch of the “Zula Safely Out And About” campaign at Park Station in Johannesburg, Gauteng MEC for Transport Ismail Vadi said his department’s project coincided with the launch of Transport Month in the province.

He added that the department would be focusing on drunken drivers extensively, and called on “the public to co-operate with traffic and law enforcement agencies.”

The City of Tshwane kicked off its campaign to reduce road deaths by creating awareness among the youth and providing road safety infrastructure, education and enforcement so that fatalities and serious injuries could be reduced.

As part of the campaign, the City has created the Tsamaya Road bike lane, which is eight kilometres long and which had a cost of R15 million. Construction began in the 2010/11 financial year as part of the Tshosoloso Programme.

The purpose of the bike lane is to provide a safe environment for all road users, specifically cyclists, and to promote cycling. This is in line with the Department of Transport’s aim to develop balanced and sustainable rural transport systems by supporting local infrastructure and services involving district municipalities and provincial government.

In its report, the Arrive Alive Campaign indicates that there is a severe need for companies to invest in proactive measures to address South African driver behaviour to reduce the risk of accidents on the country’s roads and the toll these take on citizens.

Driver management programmes go well beyond simply driver training and safety. The programmes should be designed to reduce the risk of accidents and improve the overall safety and well-being of drivers and their families through reducing collisions as well as injuries.

Arrive Alive notes that motor vehicle insurance has become an important business, and people are getting more curious about how to safeguard their cars and other vehicles against accidents, damage and theft.

It further states that consumer education continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing the insurance industry; and most of the complaints to the Ombudsman for Short Term Insurance are from consumers who are not familiar with the financial services industry and
insurance products.

One cannot dispute the fact that the country urgently requires solutions to add to those that are currently in place in order to reduce the alarming rate of road fatalities.

The Lifeloc breathalyser kiosk is a standalone breath alcohol testing system that has been tested and approved by the United States Department of Transportation and other regulatory bodies around the world, such as in Ecuador.

The Lifeloc kiosk requires the test subject to sign in using a variety of methods: from fingerprint, driver’s licence to employee clock card.

Michael Crossland, product manager from Precision Safety Appliances – which is currently promoting and distributing the Lifeloc kiosk system – indicates that the product is able to monitor drivers and conductors from the beginning of their shifts to the end.

Implementation of such a system would go a long way toward ensuring no professional driver or conductor will enter or operate a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

“The application of the Lifeloc kiosk system would not only pertain to the public transport sector – private transport and logistics companies could use the system to the same effect,” says Crossland.

The kiosk is able to record video and pictures of the test subject, and store and print the results.

In addition, it alerts a supervisor of any positive tests, so that the appropriate procedure can be followed.

The drivers and conductors may have to perform a breath alcohol test at various stations along the route, hence ensuring they remain sober throughout the day; once they have completed their shift, they sign out with another test.

Bongani Mtlhavani