Road Safety's In Human Hands

Two incidents recently brought into sharp focus the issue of road safety on South Africa's roads. One was the tragic death of Collins Chabane and his two bodyguards - Sergeant Lesiba Sekele, who worked for the public service and administration minister since 2009, and Lawrence Lentsoane. Having followed the coverage of Chabane's death and the condolences that poured in, it is clear our country is poorer as a result of death. The second incident, at least for the people of Gauteng, was the much publicised road safety campaign organised by LeadSA and in which Transport Minister Dupou Peters participated. The campaign saw 47 coffins placed along the N14 highway last week to highlight the rise in road tragedies and heighten awareness of the high rate of deaths on our roads. It made for unpleasant viewing and may have upset people.

However, desperate situations call for desperate measures. We kill far too many people on our roads - about 17 000 a year. Apart from the pain and anguish of the parents and relatives of those who are killed, road traffic accidents reportedly cost the South African economy about R306 billion annually - almost third of the country's budget. In a country in desperate need of resources, the opportunity cost of these deaths is obvious. Statistics also reveal that it is largely young people, between the ages of 15 and 44 who account for the highest number of road traffic deaths. These are people who are in the prime of their lives and still have a lot to contribute to society. Their premature deaths rob the country of their skills and productive lives.

Faced with such a crisis, one can understand why LeadSA and the minister resorted to the shock tactic of displaying coffins to drive the message home. The sad reality is that road traffic today, upon which the majority of citizens rely, has become inherently dangerous. In fact, in contrast to other modes of transport such as railways and air traffic, the road traffic system is failing dismally when it comes to safety. And this is not unique to South Africa. According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013, about 1.24 million people die each year on the world's roads and between 20 and 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries. Young adults account for 59 percent f global road traffic deaths. The question is how small we respond to what is clearly becoming a public health issue and indeed an economic problem?

To address the problem, the issues of enforcement and police visibility on our roads will definitely need to be addressed. The consequences for those who break the law on our roads are not deterring enough, one could argue. I have read too many stories about drivers involved

in horrific accidents only to find that they have previous convictions or outstanding charges of traffic law violations. How does it happen that such drivers are still found on our roads, let loose on other road users? It is not about time that we see changes in our legislation to address such gaps? I recently heard that a high number of accidents happen between 11pm and 7am. During those times, one would hardly find a traffic law enforcer on the road. Indeed, it is during these times that one is likely to meet a drunken driver or an abnormally loaded vehicle.

To reduce the number of road traffic accidents, the pace of legislative change and enforcement needs to be hastened and more attention paid to vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and schoolchildren. Nothing upsets me more than seeing innocent schoolchildren being exposed to risk on our roads by overloading into vehicles, some of which are not roadworthy or appropriate for scholar transport. We violate these children's right to life and safety when we do not hold accountable those who are responsible for transporting them. This is one area that needs legislative intervention and constant monitoring by traffic officials. Critical as enforcement is, we should never lose sight of the fact that ultimately it is us humans who make the difference between hazard and safety, with little keeping us from harm should we make a mistake.

Given that humans are prone to make mistakes and commit violations, human behaviour is critical when it comes to road safety. And this is where education campaigns come in. Road safety education programmes can be used as a means of influencing the public to behave more safely on the road. As we approach the Easter weekend, I would like to appeal to all road users to observe the rules of the road and make use of the roads in a manner that understands they are a shared space and we need to be patient with each other when using them.