Source: Ministry of Transport
Title: Radebe: Launch of Easter Campaign and Arrive Alive Patrol Car
Keynote address for Minister of Transport, Mr Jeff Radebe, MP, Easter Campaign and Arrive Alive Patrol Car Launch, Legends Restaurant, Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand, Gauteng
17 March 2005
Dignitaries, Representatives from provincial and local authorities, Private sector, Religious bodies, Traditional authorities, Media, Ladies and gentlemen.
Transport is an abler of economic growth for the country and amongst others, this makes the Department of Transport a key functionary of government in leading the main thrust of improving service provision for public transport, improving access to transport by South Africans , and continuously improving safety on all modes of transport, and in this regard, road safety.
On 14 March 2005 when I was addressing the South African Taxi Council, SANTACO, I announced that the Draft Safety Requirements for New Taxi Vehicles (NTVs) have been completed and I have instructed the Department to publish these requirements for public comment without delay. As you know these measures which government intend introducing will go a long way in addressing the safety of more than 60% of users of our public transport system and by implication add-value to the improvement of the transportation system in the country.
Arrive Alive activities are part of the Road to Safety 2000-2005 strategy, and comprise short and medium term activities aimed at reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads. The campaign has been active since 1997, and in the past two years there has been a slight reduction in the rate of fatalities per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled. The traffic volumes in South Africa are also increasing steadily by around 6.25% annually, with vehicle ownership increasing by just over 4%.
Although there was a slight decrease of 0,52% in the average number of persons killed per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled from 10,48 in 2003 to 10,42 in 2004, in terms of real figures the number of fatal crashes during 2004, from January to December, increased by 277 (2,70%) from 10,246 in 2003 to 10,523 in 2004. The number of fatalities increased by 361 (2,92%) from 12,348 in 2003 to 12,709 in 2004. These increases have to be curbed.
I want to appeal to all of us to take into account that road crashes do not just happen ,
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