DA moots new road safety steps

2010-09-30 18:05

Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance on Thursday proposed a number of steps to improve road safety, including reviewing the drivers' licence test and a provisional licence system for new drivers.

National figures show that one in three non-natural deaths in South Africa are transport related, DA spokesperson Manny de Freitas told a media briefing.

"Fatalities on South African roads have, regrettably, risen steadily since the late 1990s.

Figures show that in 1998, South Africa recorded 7 260 deaths on its roads; a decade later, that figure had risen to over 14 000," De Freitas said.

The DA proposed, among other things, that Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele initiate steps to investigate a new updated licence test.

The K53 test was designed in 1985, back when car suspensions and steering were far below the standard of modern cars, and before ABS brakes, traction control, on-board computers and airbags had become commonplace.

"In addition, we need to look at re-implementing driving instructors accreditation, so that instructors who lack the necessary skills are eliminated from the industry and do not teach their bad habits and ignorance to new drivers," he said.

Secondly, the backlog in prosecuting drunk drivers had to be removed.

The Drager system was now common practice across the country and allowed for instant, objectively-verifiable results, on drunk driving.

The hold-up was now in the court system. It took too long for suspected drunk drivers to be prosecuted.

Thirdly, an inspectorate of licensing needed to be effectively implemented so that all driving licence examiners were assessed at least annually.

New innovations needed

Fourthly, a provisional licence system for new drivers needed to be implemented, as well as a five-yearly re-test to ensure drivers remained up-to-date with new developments in driving.

The latter need not necessarily be a full re-test.

It could simply be the attendance of a two-hour classroom session.

The Professional Driving Permit (PrDP) validity period should be extended to five years and renewal dependent on a skills test of defensive driving techniques above and beyond the requirements of licence level.

The current system allowed people with inadequate driving skills to take control of vehicles carrying thousands of litres of toxic or combustible chemicals, or dozens of passengers.

Fifthly, speed-orientated traffic enforcement should be done in conjunction with moving violations-orientated traffic enforcement and drink driving enforcement.

Traffic officers needed to be visible and on the roads 24 hours a day.

Finally, new innovations should be introduced.

New laws needed to be introduced to bring in simple and cost-effective, existing innovations that could save lives, such as daylight lamps, and anti-overload devices for taxis, he said.

- SAPA