With the high levels of road accidents and fatalities continuing to worry road users, community members ask what can be done to stop the carnage.
“Measures have been put in place to ensure that accidents and fatalities are curbed, but we must acknowledge that no strategy or plan can work without road users changing their behaviour on the road.
“All road users continue to know what it is that they must to do, but a majority just choose to ignore and disobey the rules of the road,” said Faith Mazibuko, MEC for Community Safety.
Major highways such as the N1 and N3 experience high volumes of traffic during the festive period, as everyone is in a rush to reach their holiday destinations.
The traffic becomes congested as we drive bumper to bumper, and tempers flare.
In times like these patience needs to be the order of the day.
In all the travelling that will be undertaken by all road users, whether pedestrians or drivers, adherence to the rules of the roads is vital to ensure that everyone reaches their destinations.
According to the statistics collected during a road traffic offence survey, the most common causes of road traffic crashes are:
- Jay walking
- Excessive Speeding
- Fatigue
- Speaking or texting on cellphones while driving
- Not wearing a seatbelt
- Driving under the influence of alcohol
- Reckless and negligent driving
“Over the years statistics such as the ones collected during the survey have shown that pedestrians perish most on our roads.
“This is also due to ignorance and negligence, people just cross the road without looking at traffic lights, cross the road with their ear and headphones on, jay walk etc,” added Mazibuko.
During the 2012/13 financial year the Department of Community Safety conducted 2 053 road safety educational programmes in primary, middle and high schools and at various companies particularly those with heavy duty vehicles, buses and at taxi ranks.
These campaigns were aimed at reinforcing road safety education and the importance of adhering to all the rules of the road at all times.
During one of these operations the focus was the deployment of Gauteng Traffic Police.
The officers were deployed to hazardous locations with the aim of reducing road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2014.
“The Gauteng Traffic Police jointly with other law enforcement agencies have identified provincial and municipal hazardous locations, our main focus during the 2012/2013 festive season is the deployment of officers according to hazardous locations,” said Mazibuko.
The officers on duty will be focused on the following offences:
- Excessive speeding
- Reckless and negligent driving
- Driving under the influence of alcohol
- Overloading of goods and passengers
- Driving unroadworthy vehicles
- Pedestrians on the freeways
- Driving a vehicle without a drivers’ license
- Operating public transport without a permit
- Permitting or allowing an unlicensed driver to driver a motor vehicle
- Drag racing
These traffic violations will be punishable with immediate arrest, no fine or admission of guilt.
“This will ensure that the innocent lives of the law abiding citizens are not compromised in any way by irresponsible drivers.
“All law enforcement agencies will operate jointly to deal harshly with vehicle and driver fitness, crime prevention, law enforcement on public and private transport vehicles will be conducted,” Mazibuko added.
