 
FOCUS ON YOUTH
|
| Drivers | - 1 |
| Passengers | - 1 |
| Pedestrians | - 8 |
| TOTAL | 10 |
The statistic breakdown for the period between May up to 20 June 2003, is:
Drivers - 20 Passengers - 18 Pedestrians - 21 TOTAL - 58
Seeing these statistics therefore compels us to look more closely at the pedestrian safety in the province as research tells that pedestrians are the most vulnerable group of road users.
Research conducted by the University of Natal Interdisciplinary Accident Research Centre (Uniarc) highlights that road users perceived the Edendale road to be unsafe. Statistics proved that this was one of the Province’s most dangerous roads as far as pedestrian collisions were concerned. The KZN Department of Transport installed a pedestrian bridge over the Edendale road. Since the bridge was opened for use there has been no reported fatality involving pedestrians in this area. This bears testimony to the department’s resolve to reduce road related collisions in partnership with the community.
As further way of ensuring that the whole community is safe, including the youth, we have installed intelligent road studs, and recently launched them, in the Melmoth to Ulundi road. The department has introduced groundbreaking technology promising to dramatically curb the rate of accidents happening at night on the province's roads. The self-illuminating studs or "cat eyes" light up road markings a way ahead of the vehicle and even in worse weather conditions. The Ulundi-Melmoth road is characterised by many bends and rises. In addition sections of the road frequently experience poor weather conditions especially fog. Under the circumstances conventional studs, which work on the reflection of the car's headlight, had been ineffective and night driving in particular had been hazardous. We have chosen the road for piloting the new Intelligent Road Studs (IRS). Most of deaths in the area were fatalities during the night, and with the road studs which are clearly visible from almost 800 metres, it has saved many lives. The 10 times extended visibility ahead means that the driver has enough reaction time to a road hazard. There had been no accidents in the six months of the project. The new technology, which uses solar cell, has many other applications, including lighting up pedestrian crossings. According to the suppliers of the IRS in the US there had been 80% reduction in crashes at pedestrian crossings. We will roll out the project on to the rest of the province.
SIYABONA BONAKALA
The process of re-issuing driver’s licences to some 700 000 citizens of the province has brought to the fore some interesting areas of concern. Failure rates of the eye tests offered at testing stations beg the question: how many people on our roads cannot see clearly, and how does this impact on the ability of our citizens to drive safely – especially at night. Another question is whether the public transport drivers, especially taxi drivers, are themselves roadworthy?
The department has, as per international standards, always examined issues of sobriety, fatigue and vehicular condition. However, no attempt has been made to clarify whether there is a link between the accident, and the driver’s ability to see clearly.
Of course, you may say, every person with a licence has had an eye test. However, we wish to say instead that, not only should they be fit to pass the test, but that they can see twice as well as that test demands – with 6/6, perfect vision. Fellow road-users deserve nothing less, and there should be as little margin for error as possible.
Though optometry services and glasses supply is just becoming available in some public hospitals of KwaZulu-Natal, the urgency of the question of vision and road safety compels the department to take a serious and pro-active stance.
The campaign SIYABONA BONAKALA will be launched to ensure that all those who drive on our roads, can see clearly. Those who fall under the auspices of the transport department: bus services, taxi services, and ultimately all those who drive government vehicles, must be screened by a professional, and given a pair of affordable spectacles if they need them. We are proposing that a basic pair of glasses should cost between R60 and R250, depending on the prescription. We therefore want to introduce public sector delivery of eye care services and in the process produce a model for eye care in the public sector for the ultimate benefit of the patient.
The debate of whether drivers can see clearly must always be married with a programme that will assist those who can’t. No government wishes to enforce legislation with the concurrent fall-out of making criminals of those who simply cannot afford the solution.
In the case of vision and vision screening – for which there are bound to be failures - legislation allows for persons who have failed the eye test to approach an optometrist. This person will then be supplied with glasses. However, the sad fact of this country is that it is precisely those who fail, who just don’t have glasses simply because they cannot afford them.
In this way, a driver, who may be the sole breadwinner, will lose his licence, lose his job, and in this way, whole families are condemned to lives of poverty. It is not our intention to enforce legislation, and paralyse a person’s ability to earn. Let it never be said that a family must starve simply because the principle breadwinner cannot afford a pair of glasses.
The department therefore undertakes – through a series of strategic alliances – to ensure that optometrists are made available, and glasses are made affordable to all those who fall under our umbrella. People also need to be screened for those diseases which impact on vision: our chronic diseases of diabetes, hypertension and glaucoma. Any of these can rob a person of their sight – and we must ensure that those who rely on their sight to earn a living need not live in fear of losing their sight if this is preventable.
Not only will we then be able to say, that those on our roads who drive are able to see clearly, we are also able to contribute significantly to improving the quality of life of all our citizens.
The SIYABONA BONAKALA campaign will initially focus on ensuring that the eye screening procedures employed in our traffic directorates across the province are entirely uniform. This training will be undertaken by an optometrist in August. This is to ensure that whatever screening takes place is of the same standard as that offered currently to those who have their eyes screened in private practices.
This standardization will also allow for the statistical evaluation of the extent to which poor vision currently impacts on the ability of our citizens to drive safely. This long term strategy will supplement the department’s commitment to addressing this issue as a matter of urgency.
We are also committed to joining hands with the private sector. The third-biggest block of road users are those employed as long-haul truck drivers. If business can ensure that their drivers have been screened and offered affordable spectacles, they will adopt a significant role in stemming the carnage on our roads.
SIYABONA BONAKALA will examine issues of visibility on our roads. The majority of our road deaths involve pedestrians, and the SIYABONA BONAKALA campaign will concentrate, among other areas, on school children – currently walking to school in the dark, re-claiming our pavements and rural pedestrians who at night may be invisible to the taxi they are trying to hail.
The department is confident that in pro-actively addressing the issue of whether people can see, and be seen, we will move forward significantly in addressing previously unidentified areas of concern.
THE PUBLIC INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME
Road crashes have become almost a part of South Africa’s public transport landscape. Ever so frequently do we hear, see or read about a bus or taxi that has overturned and killed numerous passengers in the process. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport condemns these kinds of incidents as they are unnecessary and uncalled for. Passengers board taxis and buses to reach the destinations safely and comfortably, not to be harassed and ultimately killed in road crashes.
It is a well-known fact that more than 65 per cent of people in South Africa use taxis as their mode of transport. It is also true that the taxi industry has been characterised by chaos and violence caused by neglect during Apartheid years. As early as 1995, the National Taxi Task Team identified lack of education and training as one of the major hindrances to economic development and contributory factor to the high taxi related taxi road crashes and disputes. This factor also formed part of the recommendations of the Alexandra Commission. To respond to these recommendations, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport took an initiative to implement the skills development programme for the taxi industry in the province.
In 1998 the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport initiated training sessions for taxi drivers in Port Shepstone, Pietermaritzburg, Wentworth and Empangeni. This training focused on driver training attitudes, advanced driver training, customer care and anti-hijacking. The success of the training motivated the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport to start working with the Transport Education and Training Authority (TETA) in 2001 with the aim of providing education and training, which is in line with the National Skills Development Strategy. The ultimate goal of the whole exercise was the formalization, democratisation and legalization of the taxi industry so that it could compete equally with other professional businesses.
Before outlining facts about the Nquthu Taxi Driver Training Project, I think it is necessary to state that:
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there are 22 000 minibuses in KwaZulu-Natal
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the taxi industry in KwaZulu-Natal spends about R2.5 million monthly on fuel
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the taxi industry in KwaZulu-Natal spends about R20 million per month on insurance
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the taxi industry in KwaZulu-Natal spends about R2.5 million monthly on repairs
Having outlined the state of the taxi industry in KwaZulu-Natal, I feel it is important to explain certain fundamental facts about the skills development project at Nquthu. The KwaZulu-Natal department of Transport, in co-operation with the taxi industry has completed a pilot project in Nquthu training 150 taxi drivers and 150 taxi owners in road safety and business development management. Of all the people who registered for this course we have had 100% attendance and participation. We achieved this with co-operation from the local municipality and the local taxi industry. With 252 taxi associations in existence one would wonder how Nquthu became a pilot site. KWANATACO set certain criteria for the launch of this Project and based on the standards described below:
The KZN Transport Department has invested R1, 2 million in this groundbreaking project (a first in the whole country) and its success has guaranteed that we will be extending the venture to other regions of KwaZulu-Natal and to other provinces.
For this financial year, we have budgeted another R1.2 million for this project. In August we will start with the second leg of this project by training the 160 executive members of the regional taxi councils. This will then be followed by training of another 200 drivers from across the province selected by their regional taxi councils. This project will continue for the coming three years to cover all 22 000 taxi drivers currently on our database.
Our approach to Road Safety is that we wish to include everyone who uses private and public roads in our campaigns to save lives. We have to date approached the executive of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (KWANALU) with the intention to assess the number and distribution of driver-training centers in the agricultural sector. We also wished to determine gaps where they existed with a view to providing a service that would meet the needs of small scale farmers. It is anticipated that the department of Agriculture will play a cooperation and supportive role in this process. The Road Traffic Inspectorate will coordinate the testing of drivers and support driver training. To this effect we have already ordered over 2000 IsiZulu learner’s license instruction guides to be used as teaching material.
Whereas, presently most of the driver training facilities for the agricultural sector are in the hands of the corporates, it will be necessary to extend such training to emerging farmers.
CONCLUSION
The KwaZulu-natal Department of Transport is very much committed to Zero Tolerance. As I have indicated, our Zero Tolerance goes hand in hand with education and training. You will recall that on 6 May during a memorial service of the 13 children that died in a taxi crash at Emalangeni in Umzinto, I promised to expedite the process of skills development within the taxi industry and I mentioned specifically this Project as one of our efforts in ensuring skills development in this sector.
You will also remember that the incident was caused by two taxi drivers were playing a game called ‘Chicken’. When we launched the Public Transport Enforcement Unit on August 26 last year, the primary objective was to make a safe road environment through enforcement of traffic regulations within the public transport industry of which, youth; pedestrians and taxis form part. Thus, with the success of these projects all components of our Zero Tolerance Campaign are to be accomplished. We cannot allow our youth to continue being robbed of a bright future by road collisions. It is the reason why we say Road Safety is something that you don’t do TO a community; it is something that you do WITH a community Asiphephe!
I thank you.
