Venter encourages all to ‘drive more safely’
The 65-year-old Noordwyk resident said the horror of her son's accident had never left her.
When Alida Venter’s eldest son Tommie Klopers was tragically killed in a road accident, it led her to establish her non-profit organisation Drive More Safely.
The 65-year-old Noordwyk resident said the horror of her son’s accident had never left her and she had dedicated her life to road safety in a bid to bring down the accident rate.
“I established this organisation in 2007 after the passing of my son who was killed at the scene of a head-on collision with a drunken driver in 1996,” said Venter.
The organisation conducts campaigns, provides educational literature, conducts motivational talks, and offers training programmes to educate and equip road users to be responsible and safe on the road.
Additionally, the campaign aims to collaborate with other reputable organisations that deal primarily with road safety, engage with the government, and be active and responsible road safety activists for safer roads for everyone.
After moving from Cape Town to Midrand earlier this year, Venter hopes to continue making an impact with her organisation.
Venter has won many awards for the great work she does through her organisation, and the accolades in her cabinet continue to multiply.
Among her accolades is the lead SA Hero award in 2012 for her child safety in vehicles campaign. “To date, we have provided child restraints to 9 845 children.”
Furthermore, she won the Extraordinary Woman award in 2012, the Woman in Law Enforcement award ITC in 2017, and recently in 2022, she won the African Excellence Award from MEA Markets for the best road safety organisation in South Africa.
“Death on the road does not only affect the economy, it has a devastating effect on the family of a road crash victim. It has a lifelong hurt and emptiness that never leaves the family.”
Among the educational programmes that Drive More Safely offers is Danny Cat Club, which encourages learners to develop positive road safety habits from a young age.
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