Transport minister aims to curb road crashes

The transport minister, Dipuo Peters this week announced that she had established an intergovernmental team of experts to investigate pragmatic and sustainable interventions aimed at curbing the spate of road crashes in South Africa.

The team, comprising senior officials from the national department of Transport, Road Traffic Management Corporation, Road Traffic Infringement Agency, the SA National Road Agency Limited and the Road Accident Fund, will work closely with law enforcement authorities in provinces and municipalities.

Peters took this decision after receiving reports that show that many lives have been lost due to road carnages. She said since she had been the political head of the transport department she has learnt that the nation is faced with a major challenge of road safety.

Peters said the areas of focus would include reviewing existing legislation under the National Road Traffic Act, road structural challenges and educational campaigns aimed at raising awareness about road safety hazards among motorists, passengers and pedestrians alike.

She said the team will further be requested to propose immediate interventions to address identified hazards where applicable, to prevent recurrences and include the facilitation of the creation of a reliable data bank to assist the department with forward planning and budgeting in tackling road carnages.

“All these are meant to support our efforts to have all-year round road safety programmes because indeed crashes happen daily and not confined to specific seasons. We do however acknowledge the continued need to multiply our efforts during peak traffic seasons such as end of year holidays, Easter long weekend and mid-year vacations.

“The team would report to me on a monthly basis regarding trends and magnitude of crashes experienced during that particular month. I will share their findings with MECs of Transport and Safety in provinces using the platform of MinMec to ensure that recommendations are not just noted but are implemented,” added Peters.

Peters said she had received reports on a regular basis about officers willing to let off transgressors in exchange for money and other goods. She declared that the practice is not only a gross act of criminality but it’s a deed with potentially fatal consequences.

“If an officer accepts a bribe from an offending motorists and releases such a motorist without applying the necessary sanction, that officer becomes a potential accessory to murder because the offender could go on and cause untold mayhem a few kilometres down the road,” said Peters.

She appealed to the public not to offer bribes to officers or agree to briberies requests from officers.

“We are also warning driving school operators from conducting themselves in ways that are in violation of the law. Only a leaner driver who has received adequate training should be booked for driver’s license testing. Driving schools must not avoid processes in a bid to make extra revenue at the expense of people’s lives.”

Peters said the nation needs laws that bite and assist behavioural change within the South African motoring community. She said behaviour that is inconsistent with the law must attract the necessary penalties.

In conclusion, Peters said since the establishment of a legislative team to look into the challenges two years ago, several people have been arrested and disciplinary processes undertaken. It remains a major area of concern for us because it’s at this level that untrained and unqualified drivers are issued with licenses and unroadworthy vehicles are certified to be roadworthy.

“The department is steaming ahead with their own operations to rid our testing stations of corrupt practices working with the departments within the justice crime prevention
security cluster.”