Up To Us To Slow Road Deaths

This past month was the deadliest we have seen in road accidents as a region. Including the hair-rising accident in Swaziland, more than 100 people perished due to car crashes. There was predictable outrage over these accidents. But the question remains - is there sufficient political will to deal with this scourge? I have often heard 702's John Robbie lamenting the fact that every transport minister we have had promised to deal with the problem but nothing effective came of it. He is correct in his observation. The number of people we kill on our roads - an estimated 40 per day at last count - is way too high and increasing. Annually, the death toll on our roads is over 14 000, one of the highest in the world. To put matters in perspective that is like three SAA Airbuses going down every month. Were that to happen, I'm certain we would set up and a great deal of resources allocated to improve aviation safety standards. Yet, one does not get the sense this is happening with road crashes. There seems to be a level of numbness and/or resignation that has crept in when it comes to them.

We need to see a greater sense of urgency and a convincing plan coming from the government on how the country is going to deal with this matter. For a start, the intention to introduce a demerit system to discourage road traffic contraventions must translate into action. The system would see drivers being allocated points, according to infringements or offences committed, Once a driver reached a certain number of points, their licence would be suspended for a period of time, during which they would not be allowed to drive any vehicle. Should a driver's licence be suspended twice, they would have to make a representation to the Transport Department motivating why they deserve to have the licence returned. It is a good system, which should improve driver behaviour, and one we must all support. When I heard Transport Minister Dupou Peters talk about it on radio recently she was full of enthusiasm and sounded like the kind of minister who could finally get a plan off the ground.

However, I am cautiously optimistic. The government started talking about this system in the late 1990s. Since then, two or so ministers of transport have come and gone without the system being implemented. One really hopes that this time around it will be. It must be pointed out, though, that good laws fail or succeed on the basis of enforcement and implementation. The demerit system, reportedly successful in countries like Australia and the UK, might be a good piece of legislation but will the government have the political will, and commit the resources, to enforce it? Already, there is a glaring absence of traffic officers in the evenings, suggesting insufficient human capital, and this shows in the number of traffic violations at night and in the early hours of the morning.

An evening drive on the N4 eastward or on the N1 northward reveals a shocking level of violations, when it comes to overloading, speeding and drunk driving. There are many other traffic violations that take place in the evening because drivers take advantage of the absence of traffic officers. The move by Peters to increase police visibility over 24 hours on our roads deserves our support. Critically, and given the alleged erratic nature of information stored in our national vehicle registration database, will the demerit system be enforceable? These are questions we ask in the light of vehicles being cloned, motorists receiving traffica fines that are not theirs and e-toll bills going to the wrong people. But the obligation to make our roads safe is not the exclusive responsibility of the government. After all, the government does not do the driving. We do. Therefore, the responsibility for safety on our roads should start with us as a road users.

Even as the government takes measures to ensure the country's roads are safe for all, the most direct and effective action to improve road safety to personal responsibility by road users. We must obey the rules and rule of law.