Transport on UN Decade for Road Safety (2011-2020)

UN Decade for Road Safety (2011-2020)

Fact Sheet

• The United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011- 2020 campaign was launched on 11 May 2011 to save up to 5 million lives and prevent up to 50 million serious injuries.

• South Africa is a participant in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 campaign, signed at the first global conference for Ministers of Transport, which took place in November 2009 in Moscow, Russia.  
• From 2005-2009 before South Africa became a signatory to the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 campaign, road fatalities were decreasing at a rate of  0.56% annually.
• As part of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 campaign, Government is targeting the reduction in fatalities by 50% in 2020.
• The number of road fatalities declined by 1.88% year-on-year between 2010 and 2014. The biggest reduction was achieved in 2013.
• The number of fatalities per 100 000 population showed a decline over the years, with the lowest decline registered in 2013 at 22.3 fatalities per 100 000 population, from a baseline of 27.5 in 2010.
• The number of traffic causalities remains high at approximately 12 000 dying on the country’s roads. Pedestrians account for approximately 40% of road crash fatalities.
• There was an 18.2% increase in vehicles between 1994 (5.5 million) and 1995 (6.5 million). An increase of 107% in vehicles was recorded on South African roads between 1994 (5.5 million) and 2014 (11.4 million).
• Approximately 10% of vehicles registered in South Africa are not roadworthy and the average age of these vehicles is 11 years, which also contributes to increased potential of crashes and fatalities.
• It has been estimated that around 40% of vehicles on our roads are not insured.
• South Africa depends heavily on road transport for the movement of people and goods with a road network of approximately 750 000 km which is the 11th longest total network in the world.
• Approximately 154 000 km of the 750 000 kms of road network, which constitutes 20,5%, are paved (surfaced) roads. This paved road network is the 18th longest network in the world.
• The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is the custodian of the national road network, which is 21 451 km (2.86% of the overall road network) in length.
• The nine provincial authorities account for more than 44 400 km (6% of the road network) of the paved roads and more than 136 000 km of the provincial roads (18.2% of the road network) are gravel roads.
• Major Cities (8 Metros) account for almost 52 000km of paved roads. 300 000km are unpaved roads and those are at Local Municipalities.
• Looking at the above statistics, the backlog is huge. In the maintenance alone it will take the Department R197 billion to maintain those roads.
• We are also dealing with challenges of financing our Road Networks. There is a huge backlog in terms of new construction and the current maintenance of roads
• Our provincial departments have their equitable share of road infrastructure which is augmented by the Provincial Road Maintenance Grant (Conditional Grant).
• The country has a draft National Road Safety Strategy that is currently under review and consultation processes are underway. The country’s Road to Safety Strategy ensures the following:
  • Vehicle standards, driver safety, pedestrian safety, community participation in issues of road safety and a creation of safety-aware and skilled entrants to the road network.
  • The implementation of systematic road safety strategies that are tackling the main risk factors for traffic crashes (speed, alcohol, non-compliance with traffic rules).
  • The  advancing of technical norms and standards for road infrastructure and vehicles; and most recently road safety priorities have shifted from motorised urban traffic to vulnerable road users in rural areas.
  • Legislation on key road safety issues included blood alcohol content limits: the default speed limit is 60 km/h in urban area; lower speed limits of 30 km/h around schools.
• There are five six pillars of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.

Pillar 1 – Road safety management

• The National Department of Transport established the Road Traffic Management Corporation in terms of the RTMC Act (Act 20 of 1999) as a lead agency on traffic and road safety matters.
• The National Road Safety Strategy 2006 onwards was developed on the premise of the 4 E’s namely Education, Enforcement, Engineering and Evaluation.
• In 2014 the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) adopted the ISO 39001 as SANS 39001:2014/ISO 39001:2012 Road Traffic Safety (RTS) management systems and requirements with guidance for use.
• This standard specifies requirements for a Road Traffic Safety (RTS) management system to enable an organisation that interacts with the road traffic system to reduce death and serious injuries related to road traffic crashes which it can influence.

Pillar 2 – Safer roads and mobility

•  A network level road assessment tool called Netsafe© identifies high risk portions of roads and uses video analytics of road features to calculate a Road Safety Risk Index for the primary road network.
• This network assessment tool has been applied to approximately 20 000 km of South Africa's primary road network.
• South Africa has a massive road network of 750 000 km.  The national road network, which is 21 451 km in length or 2, 86% of the total network, carriers approximately 33.3% of all vehicle kilometres travelled per day.  . It has seen an investment of R61,9 billion for new works, rehabilitation and improvement and various maintenance cycles for the 2010/11 to 2014/15 period.
• The country has a road maintenance backlog which will be cleared at a cost of approximately R197 billion.

Pillar 3 – Safer vehicles

• SADC Standards have been developed in line with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to streamline and develop national legislative frameworks that allow the incorporation of SADC motor vehicle standards into their national legislation.
• For many years it has been a requirement for new vehicles entering the South African market to comply with seatbelt and anchorage requirements, specific crash test requirements and many other safety related aspects.
• New vehicles entering South Africa must comply with the compulsory specifications for motor vehicles. These specifications are based on UN regulations and are revised if and when necessary.
• The South African compulsory motor vehicle specifications are in the process of being revised to include various advanced safety requirements, which will be implemented in 2016. South Africa leads the world in the fitment of retro-reflective colour marking for vehicles which enhances the visibility of vehicles when travelling at night.

Pillar 4 – Safer road users

• The Railway Level Crossing Unit programme is to ensure safety at railway level crossings.
• The National Traffic Police (NTP) was established to intensify policing. NTP operations are undertaken nationally and operate 24/7 to assist provinces with targeted strategic law enforcement at hazardous locations and to conduct focussed interventions on the most lethal offences.
• The establishment of the National Traffic Anti-Fraud and Corruption Unit to combat acts of fraud and corruption by collaborating with other law enforcement agencies has resulted in several prosecutions for unlawful acts across the traffic environment.
• The Cross Border Road Transport Agency is mandated to facilitate unimpeded movement of passengers and goods within the SADC region. Roadside inspections are conducted on major corridors on a daily basis to enhance compliance and safety.
• The Child Restraint Campaign aims at educating communities on child restraint regulations and child car seats are being distributed in strategic areas.
• Junior Traffic Training Centres aims to teach and instil safer road conduct to children in a safer, miniature simulated road environment.
• The Scholar patrol programme is one of the longest existing road safety projects and it ensures the safe crossing of learners to and from school by learners under adult supervision.
• The Safe Kids Walk this Way creates a safe environment for kids to operate in thereby contributing to the reduction in pedestrian fatalities and injuries. This project has been rolled out in all Provinces.
• Road Safety Schools Debates is directed at secondary/high school learners in grades 10 and 11 and is conducted in line with the World Schools Style of Debating adapted for the purposes of imparting road safety knowledge amongst peers.
• Participatory Educational Techniques is aimed at encouraging high school learners to identify road safety challenges in their communities and being part of developing and implementing sustainable solutions that will positively contribute to safer road users and roads.
• The Professional Drivers’ Awareness Campaign assesses the road safety competencies (skills and knowledge) of heavy vehicle drivers.
• Road Safety Education in school curriculum which inculcates a culture of road safety at a young age has resulted in the mandatory implementation of road safety at primary schools as part of life skills.
• The Learner and Driver Licence Programme has been implemented for Grade 11-12 students as well as final year tertiary students. This programme provides learners and youth with theoretical and practical knowledge based on the rules of the road. It is a computer-based programme that also uses simulators for practical driving lessons.

Pillar 5-Post crash response

• The country’s post-crash care programme including the pre-hospital care systems place an emphasis on pre-empting and prevention of road fatalities and disabilities.
• The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is mandated to provide cover to all road users within the borders of South Africa.
• A single medical tariff has been proposed to the Minister of Transport by the RAF to ensure equitable access to emergency and non-emergency medical treatment as per set tariff to all victims of crashes.
• The Department of Transport is working to secure a single emergency number in partnership with emergency medical service providers.
• Following a crash and the related trauma, the RAF’s post-crash response can be categorised into the immediate phase (emergency medical care), therapeutic phase (medical care to treat and stabilise), and rehabilitation phase (medical and non-medical assistance and support).
• Through the RAF Act, government’s crash care system starts from providing emergency care cover from the scene of the crash, transportation to hospital, the cost for hospital treatment, as well as victim reintegration and rehabilitation as part of the post recovery treatment interventions.
• In the eventuality of death, the RAF also facilitates a burial service which is only limited to costs related to the actual burial and not extras such as flowers, food and transportation.   
• A compulsory cover to all road crash victims for medical, loss of support, loss of income, general damages and funeral costs is provided.
• The RAF provides for social reintegration of road crash victims through dedicated case management, home-based care, counselling as well as providing for past, current, and future medical undertaking expenses.
• The proposed RABS Bill will further increase the cover for all road users regardless of fault, and put more emphasis on rehabilitation of road crash victims.

Advocacy

Recognising the importance of raising awareness and educating South Africans around road safety issues, the Department of Transport created a mass community movement of road safety activism known through the Road Safety Community Councils; launched in 2010.

• The Department of Transport established an inter-faith based organisation, which consists of all faith-based groups and partnered with taxi, bus organisations and youth structures to promote road safety.
• The National Road Safety Advisory Council was established in 2015. The purpose of the Council is to provide advisory services to the Minister of Transport on road safety related matters.
• The Department of Transport, through its various entities, partnered with several personalities from different sectors such as sport, TV and music to take the road safety message across the country. This is particularly motivated by the desire as we embark on this important task to access a much wider audience and educate more of our people around road safety issues. The popularity of these personalities is a perfect pull factor for our people to engage with us and respond better. We believe that a well informed and educated nation is a better and well prepared nation.