The Road Safety Foundation (RSF) has called for the establishment of a National Road Safety Authority tasked with curbing the high crash rate on South African roads.
Philip Hull, founder member of the Road Safety Foundation, says the high number of crashes, injuries and fatalities on South Africa’s roads continues to place an enormous social and economic burden on the country and its citizens. He says resources now have to be dedicated if we wish to reduce this impact.
“The time has come for government and the private sector to join forces to change the situation on our roads,” says Hull “Every year thousands of people lose their lives as a result of road crashes and thousands more are injured. South Africa has one of the worst road safety records in the world and without a collaborative, dedicated effort, this situation will continue indefinitely.
“We recognise the extent of the transport portfolio which incorporates not only road safety but also harbours, airports and rail issues. The government has stated on numerous occasions that they alone cannot address the road safety challenges in the country and we agree with them. The Road Safety Foundation proposes the formation of a public-private-partnership authority with expertise from government and the private sector working together to reduce road crashes, injuries and fatalities.”
Historically, with changes in Ministers and office bearers, sustainability of road safety strategies has been a challenge. With this in mind, The Road Safety Foundation proposes that the National Road Safety Authority should be an independent entity equally co-funded by government and the private sector to harness both resources. While the principal reporting line would be to the Minister of Transport, access to other ministries that need to be involved in road safety should be acquired.
FleetWatch fully endorses this call and will throw its full weight behind such a body. Hull can be contacted on 082-803-6363
I also support this call by the Road Safety Foundation but would like to remind all concerned that on 4 October 2013, it was resolved at the annual Road Safety Summit held by the Department of Transport and called and hosted by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters that a “Road Safety Advisory Council” was to urgently be established. That was 8 months ago and as yet, this has not happened. I had so hoped that the energies of Minister Peters would not amount to the same old rhetoric that has poured out of the Department of Transport for God knows how long now, but alas, talk remains the ONLY thing that the Department and Minister/s of Transport know how to or care to do. We can try and drive and insist on change, but unfortunately none of us have the power to do a thing without the support of the Department and Minister of Transport.
Howard Dembovsky