MBOMBELA – Bad attitude is a contributory factor to road carnage, especially among young drivers who think they can do anything with their vehicles on the country’s roads.
That was MEC for community safety, liaison and security, Mr Vusi Shongwe’s assertion during an interview on Tuesday to mark the close of Transport Month as he unpacked their triumphs at reducing deaths on the province’s roads.
“The attitude of our youngsters who buy these big-machined cars are a contributing factor to the rise in carnage on the roads.
“These young people think they can do anything with those cars on the roads, which is bad behaviour and absolutely wrong.
“It is not wrong for them to go to parties, but the trend is, a lot of youngsters die on the roads in the early hours of the morning. Most are found to have been drunk.
“We have lost a lot of soccer players, artists, good leaders and other young professionals who enjoy themselves beyond the limit.
“That is why it is important that we address these issues among our people because accidents don’t have statistics, roads can kill us,” he said.
Generally, he said, he was comfortable that the province was heading towards the right direction. “People are realising that it is a collective responsibility to guard and ensure that we adhere to road safety. It is the very people who are using the roads that get killed and injured, so it’s important that we protect each other.”
“We recorded a few accidents during this Transport Month which indicates that we’re doing it the right way with our programmes. The most effective programme is the Overall Friday programme that has had such a great impact in the community.
“We conscientise the community as Fridays they go to taverns where problems emanate.
“They go there to drink and drive and some walk home. They don’t have visible clothing and some end up as victims of rape, others victims of those who bought liquor for them.
“Taverns are plenary centres for crime, hence I want to focus on the reduction of taverns because it’s abnormal to have more of them in society than schools and churches. Even drug lords target the youth at taverns,” he added.
“Public works and transport issues licenses for transportation of people, so it is our responsibility to ensure we all comply with roads regulations.
“It is also our responsibility to address road safety matters with our neighbouring countries who come here for business and pleasure – it is important that they are safe when they are here.
“Even the likes of SAB have consumer responsibility programmes, but I was impressed by Buscor on Monday when they officially launched their new terminus in White River. Their operations revolve around safety.
“I really commend them for the safest transport mode.
“This must really transcend to all transport stakeholders in the province.
“We need to share these progressive road safety measures and contribute to an eventual accident-free Mpumalanga,” he concluded.
