Road engineers urged to design safe roads

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“We… call on road engineers to have road designs that are mindful of the inherent human fallacies leading to crashes, pre-empt them and use road engineering design to prevent road fatalities and serious injuries,” Peters said on Thursday, 6 October.

Speaking during the 2nd National Prayer Day for Road Safety, she encouraged law enforcement officers to be on high alert, visible and to patrol all known hazardous areas.

“Speed plays a role in at least 30% to 40% of all crashes. According to the Medical Research Council, about 60% of drivers and pedestrians who die on the road are found to have exceeded the legal blood alcohol limit,” Peters said.

Other leading causes of car accidents include fraudulently obtained driver’s licences, driving without a licence, speeding as well as drinking and driving.

To address some of challenges on the road, the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) is continuing to provide training and collaborate with stakeholders on the management of Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) as well as general traffic fines to ease the time and cost of doing business under the AARTO legislative environment.

“AARTO training provides formal education and awareness creation to help industry players and fleet owners to have an in-depth understanding of the AARTO Act and the obligations it places on them as operators and individual motorists.

“RTIA is strengthening this aspect of its service-offering with the aim of harnessing voluntary compliance to AARTO as well as ease of access for processing outstanding infringement notices,” Peters said.

She said such efforts help position RTIA as a trusted authority for the AARTO programme which the road user can rely upon, which goes a long way in empowering the motorist to take charge of their own behaviour.

South Africa is commemorating Transport Month in October under the theme ‘Together we move South Africa Forward’.