AA wants strategy to curb road deaths
2013-01-10 18:52
-
Accidents
A resource for all Health and Safety professionals, particularly those who have responsibility for...
Now R506.00
buy now
Johannesburg - A cohesive government strategy is needed to reduce the high death toll on the country's roads, the Automobile Association of SA (AA) said on Thursday.
"The Decade of Action was launched in 2011, and since then no real projects other than enforcement have been implemented," said AA spokesperson Gary Ronald.
"Real action to curb the road carnage is impossible when there is no cohesive strategy."
The Decade of Action for road safety was launched in more than 100 countries on 11 May 2011, by the United Nations to prevent five million road traffic deaths globally by 2020.
On Thursday, Transport Minister Ben Martins announced that 1 465 people had died on the country's roads in 1 221 accidents recorded between 1 December and 8 January.
He said about 40 percent of the deaths involved pedestrians, most of whom had walked onto roads while drunk.
Ronald said despite several strategies by transport bodies, there was still no policy framework for road safety in evidence.
He said the country needed organised and uniform action by the transport department and the Road Traffic Management Corporation.
"The continuing division between these bodies is clearly doing more harm than good, as the number of deaths on our roads has not decreased over the 2012 period," he said.
- SAPA
