Imperial Fleet Services, 17 April 2000, 10h00.
Chairperson,
The Management Of Imperial Fleet Services,
Colleagues From My Department,
Members Of The Media,
Ladies And Gentlemen.
It is with great honour that I am here today to launch the National Arrive Alive Easter Campaign. I wish to congratulate and also extend a word of thanks to imperial fleet services for hosting us and making available these premises for the launch. I also wish to record our appreciation for the contribution you have made in support of the Arrive Alive campaign.
During my budget speech in parliament on 12 April 2000, I mentioned that the Christmas holidays report and all statistics would be made public. May I indicate that these statistics are almost close to accurate because we had an opportunity to check and double check them. I therefore wish to give you a comprehensive report on the December/ January statistics.
During the December 1999 and January 2000 holiday period a total of 1292 people lost their lives on South Africa's road network. These people died in 949 crashes involving 1254 vehicles. The crashes during December in urban areas reduced by 51,03% and those on the rural road network increased by 94,38% when compared to the same period the previous year.
The number of fatalities per crash increased by 7,12% which is as a result of more high occupancy vehicles or vehicles carrying more passengers and excessive speed.
In December 1999 of the 512 vehicles involved 38,87% were motorcars; 19.73% ldv's (bakkies) and 13.48% minibus taxi's. The number of motorcars increased by 42,02%; bakkies 20,46% and minibus taxi's by 10,29% when compared to the same period the previous year. The number of vehicle occupants killed per vehicle class can be summarised as follows: motorcars 40,34%; minibus taxi's 21,93% and bakkies 17,94%.
More than 40% of those killed were in the age group between 24 and 39 years old. About 20% in the group between 39 and 69 years old. About 16% were children under the age of 18 years. Overall 73,4% of these killed were from the black population group; 12,1 % white; 8,95 coloured and 2,2% asian.
Pedestrians jaywalking and under the influence of alcohol was a major contributory factor to crashes. In urban areas about 59% of the crashes and in rural areas 38,0% of the crashes involved pedestrians.
Accidents that can be related to unsafe overtaking maneuvers were about 16% in urban areas and 22% in rural areas. In urban areas 13,2% and in rural areas 30,3% were single vehicles that overturned.
About one third of minibus taxi crashes were single vehicles as a result of tyre bust. 34,74% of those killed in minibus taxi related accidents were as a result of single vehicles that overturned. A further one third of minibus taxi accidents can be relate d to unsafe overtaking maneuvers (19,77% head-on; 2,33% side swipes same direction and 4,65% side swipe opposite direction) claiming the lives of 31,98% of the occupants of this vehicle class. About 28% minibus taxi related crashes also involved pedestrian s.
The majority of people (29,92%) died because of single vehicles that overturned. Some 23,33% died because of pedestrians jay walking and 8,26% in hit and run accidents. Head-on crashes claimed the lives of 16,21%; head-rear crashes 7,11% and 3,14% in side swipe crashes with vehicles moving in the opposite direction.
The worst day for accidents recorded was on Saturday the 18th of December 1999, when 42 people died. This represents 6,12% of the total December fatalities. The second worst day was on Friday, the 24th December 1999 with 5,8% (40 persons) and Christmas day itself with 5,5% (38 persons). It is clear to us that 43,4% of the accidents happened from Monday to Thursday and 56,6% on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
A noted increase in very early morning accidents was also experienced. For December as a whole the majority of accidents happened between 19h00 and 20h00 in the evening.
Although the total traffic volumes in December 1999 were very similar to those in December 1998, a few exceptional days were experienced. On 3rd, 10th and 17th December, the daily traffic volumes were 62%; 41,1% and 30,0% respectively higher than the same days the previous year. In the mean time the 11th, 15th, 16th and 26th December traffic volumes were about 17% higher.
Speed still plays a major role in accidents. Traffic volumes and speeds were recorded at a total number of 47 counting stations on the rural road network for the full months of December 1999 and January 2000.
On certain days and at certain hours the 85th percentile speed (meaning that 15% of the traffic travel faster than the 85th percent recorded speed) exceeded a speed of 150km/h.
At Warrenton in the Northern Cape early morning speeds exceeded 154km/h (between midnight and 01h00) as well as between 04h00 and 06h00 in the morning. The hours at which these speeds were measured corresponds with the hours during which fatal accidents happened. High speeds were also recorded on the n3 in the free state between Williers and warden and on the n1 in the northern province between Pretoria and Warmbaths.
Exceptionally high speeds were recorded particularly on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - the days of the week on which most of the weekly accidents happen. During December 1999 the 85th percentile speed on the n3 on Sundays was in the order of 145/km/hour. Although some decreases were noted, there were also increases of up to 10% in 85th percentile speeds between the hours of 21h00 and midnight.
Overall South Africa had 33,5% more rain during December 1999 than during December 1998. Certain provinces experienced heavier rainfalls than normal: in particular Kwazulu Natal and Eastern Cape (58%); Free State 51,8%; Mpumalanga 78,8% and North West 44,5 %.
It is also important to note that many of the accident reports received from Kwazulu Natal, Eastern Cape and The Free State listed poor visibility and lighting conditions as a contributory factor.
Other contributory factors include: ignoring traffic controls, poor light conditions, poor visibility, slippery road, and tyre bursts. Although certain factors relate to vehicle and the road environment, i.e. tyre bursts; poor light conditions; slippery road; etc. it is still regarded as the drivers responsibility that his or her vehicle is in a good condition and to adjust the vehicle speed in accordance with the prevailing road and environment conditions.
Detailed graphs and illustrations are available from the department on request. Our officials are here they can make these available to you.
In terms of law enforcement during the said period the traffic management system (trafman) was developed to provide for an operations management module in order to assist traffic authorities in the planning and preparation of the daily law enforcement actions and the allocation thereof. The system is also utilised for collecting and analysing traffic information.
Operational plans and feedback we received for December 1999 and Jan 2000 as captured in the trafman system were as follows;
Gauteng province planned for 18 057 hours. Out of this total, actual hours worked were 11 971. The hours worked indicated that there was a high concentration of law enforcement from Wednesdays till Sunday nights. There were operations that had been cancelled or postponed due to weather conditions.
In Kwazulu Natal 8 294 hours were planned with an execution rate of 5 123 operation hours. The reason for the low execution of hours was caused by the fact that the province had cancelled some of their operations due to storms and floods during December an d January 2000.
The Eastern Cape had planned 14 500 hours and did 9 535 operational hours. The province did indicate that some of the data is still outstanding from certain authorities hence there is a big difference between panned and actual hours.
Free State province planned 4 241 hours and recorded 2 852 actual hours worked. The province is still experiencing problems with some of the authorities not sending their data on time for capturing and reporting purposes.
Mpumalanga province planned 12 488 number of law enforcement operational hours and recorded 5 440 hours worked which is below half the planned hours.
North West hours planned and executed mostly concentrated on the weekends from the afternoons until in the evening and only 2/3 (two third) of the planned operational hours were executed.
Northern Province planned 5 458 of law enforcement operation hours of which 4 491 were recorded as executed hours. The province reported that some of the operations were cancelled due to rain.
Western Cape and Northern Cape data was sent on hard copies. It is difficult to analyse data on hard copy format since there is a number of papers (volume of the information) to analyse and it will be difficult to establish from the feedback reports whether some of the planned operations have been executed or not or whether the number of hours planned correspond with the actual hours.
Let me now give you a summary of notices issued for December 1999 and January 2000.
|
Province |
Speed |
Alcohol |
Seat Belts |
Passenger Overload |
Freight overload |
Road Worthy |
|
Gauteng |
89326 |
1435 |
8320 |
1367 |
818 |
10057 |
|
Kwazulu-natal |
32537 |
256 |
702 |
130 |
28 |
1306 |
|
Western cape |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Eastern cape |
3614 |
99 |
1798 |
569 |
142 |
958 |
|
Free state |
4489 |
300 |
1246 |
128 |
29 |
2616 |
|
Mpumalanga |
5675 |
86 |
1580 |
133 |
157 |
1053 |
|
North west |
22144 |
236 |
1898 |
348 |
191 |
3430 |
|
Northern province |
3841 |
39 |
2194 |
366 |
152 |
3563 |
|
Northern cape |
734 |
62 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
45 |
|
Total |
162360 |
2513 |
17759 |
3041 |
1517 |
23028 |
Chairperson, this concludes my report on December/January period.
On Thursday, we will be seeing yet again our road network busy as people take-off for the Easter weekend. Routes such as the n1 between Gauteng and the northern province will certainly be busy with Zion Christian church members attending the annual pilgrim age in Moria. It is this piece of road and many others in other parts of the country where many people would die on the roads. We believe that we can avoid most of these fatal crashes. I wish to call upon all road users to take extra precautions when getti ng on our network. Let me share with you what provinces will be doing during this four day holiday period.
I will begin with Gauteng. Gautrans and the department of health have a joint operation whereby they will set up ambulance camps and emergency services for the duration of the Easter weekend at Nigel and Heidelberg on the N3 and Walmanstall on the n1. They will launch their Easter weekend initiative at an interactive launch later today at 14h00. My colleague, mec Khakisi Mosunkutu, representatives of provincial traffic services, transport inspectorate, road safety, saps units, metro and local traffic authorities, taxi and bus organisations, SANDF, emergency rescue and the media will be present at the launch.
Several activities, like in house television in post offices, clinics, licencing centres and the department of home affairs; a billboard in Lenasia and moving bill boards with public address systems will be used during the Easter 2000. Road safety officers handing out print material at local and provincial road blocks as well as at the exhibition at the Rand Easter show.
The Gauteng broadcast unit, roving the n1 and manned by road safety, traffic and paramedic staff, will conduct interviews with community radio stations. An exhibition will be set up at the Petroport on theN1 on the 20th, 21st and 24th April. 18 exhibitions will be held at taxi ranks and a further 24 in shopping malls. In addition, information caravans and banners will be placed at strategic places on the n1. A road safety day will be hosted in Vereeniging on 21st April.
In the Free State several community radio stations will host radio talks and carry Arrive Alive advertisements during the Easter period. Posters will be put up at taxi ranks and filling stations. Local newspapers will carry road safety articles. They will also launch their Easter campaign on Wednesday in Bloemfontein.
The themes to be communicated in the northern cape are: speed, drinking and driving, pedestrians, fatigue, overloading, safety belts and road worthiness of vehicles. Newspapers (including the diamond field advertiser, noordwester, taxi talk and township talk) will carry advertisements, articles from press releases, fillers, profiles of Arrive Alive personnel and a road safety competition.
Electronic billboards will feature road safety messages, -hints and emergency numbers. Road safety inserts will be shown on in-house television in Kimberley, Upington and Kuruman. Upon requests from other role players, other departments and ngo's exhibitions will be held in shopping centres, libraries, taxi ranks and the Ultra Cities at Kimberley and three sisters.
A road safety campaign is planned for ABSA park, home ground for Griqua rugby. Posters will be displayed and leaflets will be distributed in parking lots, at sport events and taxi ranks. Branded licence disk holders, t shirts, caps, pens and pencils, lighters, key rings and caps will be distributed. Broadcasts, interviews, one liners by dj's and a phone in competitions have been negotiated for radio.
In Kwazulu-Natal help-centres will be set up at high profile areas such as Estcourt, Van Reenen and the north- and south coast routes. Individual authorities are to liaise with the local press. The information officers of the mec, the road traffic inspectorate, and Asiphephe's communication consultant will ensure that the enforcement activities are reported by the media.
Asiphephe is investing R130 000 into a local radio campaign that focuses on the dangers of speed. Beach programmes in Durban and other coastal resorts will see the dissemination of printed material, stickers key rings and other promotional material that have been held back since the December road safety campaign.
The northern province is ahead in that the thari ya tsela campaign was launched with a media event at Mantsole traffic control centre on 06 April 2000. The focus of thari ya tsela during the Easter weekend will be on providing entertainment points for buss es and taxis, thus enticing them to stop and rest in order to combat fatigue. The Kranskop Engen, Naboomspruit Engen and Pietersburg Ultra City are participating. Further points will be finalised.
Regional radio stations thobela fm, phalaphala, mgana lonene and the community stations University of Venda and the University of the North will be involved. The local printed media will also carry road safety information.
Parallel initiatives:
Law enforcement operations for the month of April 2000
|
Province |
Speed |
Road block |
Other |
|
Gauteng |
118 |
113 |
78 |
|
Kwazulu-natal |
282 |
135 |
5 |
|
Western cape |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Northern cape |
31 |
17 |
140 |
|
Eastern cape |
145 |
150 |
495 |
|
North west |
370 |
97 |
112 |
|
Northern province |
503 |
503 |
503 |
|
Mpumalanga |
38 |
17 |
73 |
|
Free state |
29 |
38 |
28 |
|
Total |
1516 |
1070 |
1434 |
In conclusion, I commend Imperial Fleet Services for their support in providing 25 loan vehicles free of charge for traffic law enforcement during the Easter holiday period. There is no doubt that the presence of the vehicles will provide additional traffic security to all road users.
The Easter traffic will see a different movement this year, in that school holidays which has already passed fall outside Easter. The additional two public holidays on the 27th April and 01st may can be regarded as an extension of the Easter holiday and will certainly affect traffic.
An injection of additional resources from the private sector to supplement the already stretched resources of government, is surely welcomed.
The safety of all road users is always at risk during this time of the year especially when traffic volumes on our road network increase drastically. Traffic law enforcement consequently needs to be intensified to prevent lawlessness and encourage law compliance. Traffic authorities do not have sufficient resources, and in this case patrol vehicles, to provide an ideal 24 hour a day 7 days a week traffic law enforcement to ensure constant road security for all users. Therefore, government will rely on its partners such as imperial fleet services to assist where possible.
The vehicles will be deployed at critical locations with high fatality rates along some of the country's busiest roads. I thank imperial fleet services for their valuable support. I am convinced that their investment in traffic safety is worthwhile.
Finally, I wish to remind you all to observe the rules of the road by firstly observing the six commandments of road safety. These are;
May I mention chairperson that perhaps when we meet again next time and talk about road safety, it will certainly be when we launch a discussion document on a road safety program for South Africa. The draft will be circulated to all our mec's by Wednesday this week and I hope to present the document to the public for comment and suggestions thereafter.
Thank you