Slated failure to invest in vehicle roadworthiness harms innocent people

Key to safety on the road in our hands, says Transport Minister

ONE hundred and fifty trucks were removed from the road during the December holiday period because they were not fit to be driven in the interest of ensuring a better quality of life for the people based on safe conduct on the road, KZN Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele told a breakfast briefing recently.

Slating the apparent failure on the part of truck and bus owners to invest in the fitness of their vehicles to be on the road, Mr Ndebele reported that out of 120 trucks that were checked, 80 of them had failed to comply with braking requirements. He added that twenty six buses and only two taxis were impounded because they were not fit to be on the road.

Mr Ndebele believes that it is the responsibility of both the owners and drivers to ensure that vehicle fitness is adhered to as failure to do so is killing innocent people and causing untold misery, poverty as well as physical and psychological harm.

The minister said that of the 40 drivers that were charged, thirty five of them were fined and five were to appear in court.

Ndebele praised the leadership of the taxi industry for being cooperative in supporting his Department’s endeavor to uphold safety conduct on our roads, and vowed to continue working with the taxi industry in finding solutions to the challenges of implementing the taxi recapitalization programme.

He said his Department was committed to sorting out its administrative backlog in granting permits to taxi operators, and that the enforcement of the law against those who did not have permits would be fully resumed once this process had been finished – hopefully after February this year.

Ndebele emphasized that his Department is totally dependent on the support of the law, religious and educational institutions, media, labor unions and community structures in ensuring that safety conduct is adhered to on the road. These structures play a major role to play in shaping perceptions and attitudes in so far as proper use of the road, he added.

He said that changing motorist and pedestrian perceptions and attitudes is even more important than the government’s relentless attempt to create a forgiving environment like installing tare and speed humps which encourage obedience on the road.

Ndebele believes that he hoped people’s attitudes about road safety would change rapidly, and that if that happened some of the money that is invested in road safety and law enforcement could be re-diverted to road construction projects aimed at alleviating poverty and creating jobs in the province.

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