Building on the success of its December 2012 concessionaire partnership, the road safety initiative will offer patrol support and post-crash care activities along these busy corridors.
"The death toll on the roads is a major concern and it is our hope that we can save lives through these partnerships, especially during the holiday season when there is a dramatic increase in traffic volumes. Our vehicles allow for, among other things, an increased presence of law enforcement officials and quicker response to crashes on the respective routes," says Niki Cronje, group marketing executive at Imperial.
In December 2012, there was a 3% drop in crashes and a 16% drop in fatalities on the N3 Toll Route. During April 2012, the same route measured a 19% decrease in crashes while in the December of the previous year reported a 75% reduction in fatalities when the group first partnered with N3TC.
Following its first collaboration, Bakwena N1N4 reported a combined 30 crashes from 6 December 2012 to 6 January 2013 compared to 36 during the same period in the previous year with fatalities decreasing from nine to eight.
N3TC together with Community Medical Services (a group of volunteer paramedics) and Angels in Motion (volunteer counsellors in Ladysmith) will be supporting uninjured victims of crashes as part of the toll concession's Duduza Initiative (meaning comfort in isiZulu). One of the vehicles provided will be used for this specific purpose these holidays as a support unit operating in Van Reenen's Pass.
Bakwena N1N4 has partnered with North West Provincial Traffic to man one of the vehicles on the N4. The second vehicle will be used by its service provider Pt Operational Services on the N1 from the Proefplaas interchange up to the Bela Bela turn off. These vehicles will provide assistance at accident scenes until the relevant emergency personnel arrive, assist motorists in distress, monitor and report on incidents causing congestion, investigate incidences of a security nature and report on reckless behaviour by motorists.
The campaign has been endorsed by a number of South African personalities including Giniel de Villiers, winner of the 2009 Dakar Rally, runner up in the 2013 Dakar Rally, and four times South African Touring Car and Off Road Racing champion as well as musicians from the band Watershed.
"The call for safer roads is being made from all quarters but it is up to each person to take some measure of responsibility for their behaviour, whether they drive a car, ride a bicycle or get around on their own feet," adds Cronje. "Over 124,000 people have made road safety a priority by taking the I-Pledge and we continue to encourage South Africans to take the I-Pledge at www.ipledge.co.za."
