Deadly lawlessness on our roads
THE recent heart-wrenching accident on the N2 in northern KwaZulu-Natal in which 18 children and two adults were killed and the video circulating in the public domain of the accident, surely has stirred the South African public to do what is necessary to have road traffic safety management improved from its current deplorable state.
This accident, in combination with the almost daily reports of truck accidents, cannot be allowed to continue.
All we seem to hear from the truck drivers are complaints of foreign nationals displacing South African drivers.
Never a word from the drivers and company owners about our deplorable accident and road death rates which place us worst in the world in terms of road safety.
Almost 22 years ago, January 8, 2000 your sister newspaper The Independent on Saturday published a letter which I had written, as the then retired deputy director-general of the National Department of Transport, warning of the growing scourge developing on our roads because of the way in which heavy vehicles were operated.
I pointed out the damage, including unnecessary loss of life caused by many “rogue” hauliers and stressed the necessity for our traffic authorities to urgently address the issue.
But 22 years later the position has worsened, not improved.
What has the minister of Transport, and the Road Traffic Safety Management Corporation been doing in the meantime, other than utter platitudes?
You will be told by them that road safety is the function of the provinces and their road traffic inspectorates who in turn will say that they cannot improve their performance because of staff shortages.
Where is the necessary leadership? An answer is in the Western Cape province where road-traffic safety enforcement is such that driving on the roads is safer there.
To illustrate the heavy vehicle problem, I am sure that the traffic authorities are aware of the CSIR/ Fleetwatch Magazine survey which showed that up to 70% of heavy vehicles stopped some time ago on our roads for examination had defective tyres, brakes, or lights or all three. In fact the traffic police participated in the survey and should be aware of the results.
Also why have truck owners paid no attention to the matter?
I do not need to stress the problems on our roads caused by poorly managed heavy vehicle fleets; anybody who has driven to Johannesburg from Durban on the N3, especially at night will know what I am talking about.
Almost every morning on the Rob Byrne traffic report on the radio, we hear about heavy vehicles causing massive delays by matters such as “losing their load” which is a polite way of saying it was not properly secured and fell off , “jacknifing” and blocking the road, or being the cause of accidents and deaths. What more needs to be said?
I was giving evidence on roads issues many years ago at a Cabinet meeting when a State president of the previous regime said about the traffic police, “all they do is sleep behind the trees and give speeding fines”. Is this still the case?