Programmes by Road Safety Directorate during the Festive Season

Name of Program: Summer Holiday December Project

Help Centres / Rest Stops on N2 and N3

Purpose of Centres
For travellers to take a break and stretch their legs in a safe environment, which are manned by emergency services and community road safety councils.

Where to Find the Centres
Van Reenen – N3
Estcourt – Midway N3
Pietermaritzburg – New England Road Offramp N3
South Coast - Port Shepstone N2
North Coast – between Empangeni and Richards Bay N2
Newcastle – N11 between Newcastle and Volksrust
Vryheid – Demoina Route – Melmoth Road

Garage Road Safety Promotions

Umvoti Ultra City
A road safety display – banners, posters, stickers will be done at the carpark of the garage. The Booze Bus will do breath testing for the holidaymakers. The holidaymakers are also encouraged not to speed and to follow all road rules.

Similar events will be held at: Umnini Ultra City

Awareness at Taxi Ranks
The community road safety councils together with the Department of Transport will hold an awareness campaign at the following taxi ranks due to the high taxi collision rates in the following areas:

  • Eshowe
  • Pietermaritzburg

Prayer services will be held at these ranks to encourage the taxi drivers to bring the families home safely.

Name of Project: Multi-disciplinary Roadblocks

Roadblocks include the services of RTI, SAPS, SANDF and Local Authorities which include the Traffic Department, Fire Department and Ambulance Services.

Any motorist stopped for speeding will automatically undergo a breath test and have his driver’s licence checked.

Name of Project: Omela Ngasekhaya

"Get thirsty near home" – the idea is to drink closer to home where the tavern owner can take responsibility for his patrons. This is a partnership project between the taverners associations and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport.

Name of Project: Community Awareness Programme  for School Children

The children will be given Road Safety colouring books and activity books to complete after a road safety talk. Prizes are then awarded to the children for their contribution towards road safety.

This will take place at the BP resource centres and Community libraries

Name of Project: Taxi Awareness for Long Distance Taxi Drivers

The Provincial taxi office, the Provincial taxi task team and the Directorate Road Safety will train the Rank Managers and taxi drivers during the festive period. The vehicle fitness and driver fatigue will be stressed. The Rank manager together with the driver will do a pre-trip inspection before departing on his long trip. Other aspects that will be covered are overloading, tyres and customer care.

The passengers will also be encouraged to ask the driver not to speed and to carry a limited amount of luggage.

Tour Bus Operators
Tour bus operators will be addressed on vehicle fitness and fatigue (the silent killer). The drivers are also encouraged to do a pre-trip inspection before a journey and be informed on the consequences of overloading.

Name of Project: Participatory Educational Techniques: Technology Transfer

Background

  1. Technology Transfer Project is aimed at changing learner attitudes towards Road Safety issues in their communities by means of active involvement.
  1. It involves Grade 10 and 11 learners.
  1. Learners are invited to submit road safety problems in an area that they identify and research.
  1. Schools are taught research and project management skills that will assist them in developing solutions to their identified problems.
  1. The project is run on a regional level within the four super regions.
  1. It teaches learners to take responsibility of road safety issues that effect their community and to find solutions that are practical. Participatory Educational Techniques provides learners with hands on opportunity to solve road safety problems Empowers learners, facilitators, community road safety councils with practical research skills and develops and enhances learners presentation skills by means of practical presentations. Learners understand and apply the technological process of research to identify and solve problems.
  1. PET piloted in KwaZulu-Natal.
  1. Sixteen (16) schools participated in the pilot programme.
  1. Many of the participating schools had speed humps constructed, signage put up, road marking and pedestrian crossing put in place, banks cleared up of bush or rubble.
  1. On 19 September 2000 the KwaZulu-Natal strategy of implementation was presented to the other 8 provinces at the Road Traffic Education and Communication conference held at the CSIR.
  1. KwaZulu-Natal was awarded the best Community/Youth project in South Africa.

 

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