By Hlulani Mashaba
South African roads continue to experience growing incidents of fatal crashes resulting in loss of lives. This regular occurrence continues despite various road safety measures put in place by various law enforcement authorities.
During the heightened Festive season, the law enforcement agencies had to contend with various operational difficulties such as drunk and driving, reckless and negligent driving behaviour by some of the road users.
Many road fatalities were as a result of the sharp increase in the vehicular traffic on our roads especially those destined for long distance travelling, demand for an equivalent increase in the number of enforcement officers particularly in areas normally characterized by high frequency fatal road crashes or hazardous locations.
It is worth noting that Gauteng province recorded a decline in road fatalities over the festive season at 7.2%, with 231 fatalities compared to 249 in 2019/20. This is according to the Festive Season Road Safety Report presented by the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula on the 22 nd of January 2021.
The Gauteng Department of Community Safety, through the Traffic Management Unit, Traffic Law Enforcement, Public Transport Inspectorate, Special Services and Road Safety Promotions Unit continuously strive to reduce road fatalities.
Their efforts have since saw institutionalised and internalised road safety culture, improved adherence to road traffic legislation by road users and reduction in hazardous locations.
According to Minister Mbalula, “A total of 34.1% of crashes during the festive season happened during the curfew hours, between midnight and 6am.
These number depict that the rule of law was the order of the day since many road users observed the curfew, while a select few stubborn motorists were also found on the wrong side of the law. These accidents occurred mostly on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays as per the report.
The promotion of daytime driving should continue since a high proportion of fatal crashes including pedestrian crashes occur at night time, despite traffic volumes being lower during such times. In 2016 most crashes occurred between 6pm to 10pm and 63.9% of the crashes occurred from Thursday to Sunday.The Festive Season Road Safety Report recorded a notable decline of 4.9% in the number of pedestrians who died on the roads compared to the previous year.
Nevertheless, driver fatalities increased from 24.2% to 26.9%, passenger fatalities increased from 32.2% to 34.5%, while cyclist fatalities stood at 1 %.Many factors have been attributed as the main causes of fatal crashes such as jaywalking, hit and runs, excessive speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, dangerous overtaking into oncoming traffic, wet and slippery surfaces and tyre bursts amongst others.
The law enforcement authorities should be commended for a decline in fatalities in the country, although the targeted 20% could not be recorded for the festive season.The ban on alcohol also made an impact during the festive season.
It is a well-known fact that alcohol affect visibility, judgement and the ability to react rapidly. 50% of road fatalities are caused by drinking and driving. It is therefore essential that the law enforcement officers continue arresting those found drunk and driving in an effort to flatten road crashes resulting in fatalities.
More and more pedestrians are victims of road carnages due to jay walking when under the influence of alcohol. Pedestrians constitute a large percentage of the vulnerable road users that dies during the festive season period.
It is extremely critical to urge pedestrians not to walk at night, however if they do, they must ensure that they wear reflective clothing to enhance their visibility. Pedestrians have an obligation to avoid any form of distraction such as texting and walking, listening to headphones while walking.
As a precaution, road users are also urged to always buckle up. Seatbelts saves passenger lives and increase survival chances during road crashes.
The Gauteng Department of Community Safety will continue complementing the law enforcement initiatives by the deploying Road Safety officers at identified transport hubs to educate road users on the importance of adhering to the road safety rules and regulations.
Road safety education initiatives have reached critical point. Road users must be educated in an effort to change their behavioural patterns and to think rationally every time they travel.Road Safety education will result in pedestrian and driver’s safety on high risk routes.
The utilisation of existing educational programmes to promote the Road Safety plan must continue without delay at identified hazardous locations.While the message of road safety is intensified, it is critically important that fraud and corruption be rooted out within the ranks of law enforcement.
Road users who continue to undermine the rule of law by offering bribes and committing fraud every time they are in conflict with the law must be locked in custody immediately and the law must take its rightful course.
The Gauteng Department of Community Safety calls upon the law enforcement authorities to act decisively in dealing with those drivers who doesn’t comply with the rules of the road and appeal to road users to be vigilant, patient and to adhere to the rules of the road in order to save the lives of passengers.
The Gauteng Department of Community Safety as the lead department in the implementation of road safety strategy in the province remains committed to ensuring the safety of passengers and drivers on Gauteng roads. Road Safety is everyone’s responsibility.
* Mashaba is the acting deputy director: Media Relations, Gauteng Department of Community Safety.