Africa’s road safety crisis was under the spotlight a t the International Transport Forum (ITF) Summit this week. Here’s an interesting statistic – Africa has 2% of all the vehicles in the world but 20% of road deaths.
According to the Automobile Association (AA) a staggering 134 000+ road deaths have occurred over 10 years in South Africa, putting us in our own crisis. The annual road fatality statistics for 2017, released by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) reveals the grim situation on SA’s roads. According to the statistics, 14 050 people died in road crashes on South African roads in 2017 alone.
The big question is what can and will be done to curb the death toll on our roads and we have a few suggestions:
• Buckle up. Our EMS teams advise that in many of the accidents scenes they attend to, casualties could have been avoided or minimised if the occupants of the vehicles had been wearing their seatbelts.
• Use car seats for children. Parents often fail to check but it is critical for the safety of children that they are in the correct safety seats and that those seats are correctly and securely fitted in the vehicle. Check “>this instructional video if you’re not sure exactly what to do.
• Keep a safe distance between you and other vehicles on the road. In most cases, a safe following distance is much longer than a car length. You should drive at least 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front during ideal conditions. Add 1 second extra for each 3m of trailer length—when driving a vehicle towing a trailer or caravan.
• Do not attempt to drive if you have consumed prescription medications that lead to drowsiness or if you have been drinking. Rather call an Uber or arrange for your partner or friend to drive you.
• Keep your calm. Road rage is on the increase and the more impatient drivers are, the more likely they are to either cause or be involved in an accident. Arrange to leave early enough to allow for minor delays on the roads.
• Check your eyesight and avoid night driving if you do not see clearly at night. Many people battle with night driving and if you are one of them it’s best to limit night outings as much as possible or at least stick to well lit roads.
So there it is. Our roads are not as safe as we’d like and it is up to us as licensed drivers to take the necessary precautions when we are behind the wheel of a car.
Merely wanna remark that you have a very decent website , I enjoy the design it actually stands out.
That is really attention-grabbing, You’re an excessively professional blogger. I’ve joined your feed and look ahead to searching for more of your excellent post. Additionally, I’ve shared your web site in my social networks!
Hello there! This post could not be written much better! Reading through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept talking about this. I’ll send this post to him. Pretty sure he’ll have a good read. I appreciate you for sharing!
Good write-up, I am normal visitor of one’s website, maintain up the nice operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
It is really a nice and useful piece of information. I’m happy that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Wow that was strange. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say fantastic blog!
whoah this blog is magnificent i like reading your posts. Keep up the great paintings! You already know, lots of people are hunting round for this info, you could help them greatly.
I like what you guys are up too. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my site 🙂
I think you have noted some very interesting points , appreciate it for the post.
Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having problems locating it but, I’d like to send you an email.I’ve got some ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great site and I look forward to seeing it develop over time. 🙂BestJobs
Hi, Please contact us on lynette@lamontmarketing.co.za
Very nice post. I certainly love this website. Keep writing!
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Exceptionally well written.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this website. I really hope to check out the same high-grade content from you in the future as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my very own site now 😉
This web site really has all the information and facts I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.