The festive season death toll — nearly 1,700 people died on SA roads — highlights the dysfunctional state of the road traffic system, road safety experts say.
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said this month that road deaths from December 1 2021 to January 11 2022 increased by 14% to 1,685 compared with the 2020/2021 festive season.
Johan Jonck, editor of the Arrive Alive website, tells the FM: "Road behaviour in SA is shocking. The financial cost to the economy is also significant. We need a serious relook at our road behaviour and attitude towards obeying the rules of the road."
He says that because there are so many ignorant and lawless road users, a great deal of law enforcement is required, and corruption in the traffic and law enforcement agencies needs to be ended.
Lee Randall is a postdoctoral researcher at the Wits school of public health. She says the road death toll can still rise, because the accepted definition for road deaths includes those who die within 30 days of a crash. She attributes the increase in road deaths to there being fewer Covid restrictions than a year ago.
Randall’s PhD research was on minibus taxis. She says the two main problems on SA’s roads are people not wearing seatbelts and drunk driving. One study showed seatbelt compliance was 3% — "absolute rock bottom in the world", she says. "Much of the rest of the world has a 90% compliance rate, because it is enforced."
Randall says the World Health Organisation attributes nearly 58% of SA road deaths to alcohol, even though the local blood-alcohol limit matches global best practice.
Moneyweb has quoted Mbalula as saying that the role of alcohol in SA’s death toll over the recent festive season reinforced the case for a zero blood-alcohol limit.
Randall says such a limit is "probably a silly move". She says: "It will overcriminalise people who might test positive but whose driving ability is not impaired. For example, there is gut fermentation syndrome — the production of alcohol in people’s bodies. Then, many over-the-counter medications contain alcohol but don’t impair driving ability."
She says some minibus taxi drivers also have a nyaope problem. "Some of the taxi drivers reported that taxi owners favour nyaope addicts, because such drivers couldn’t care less about how they drive — they just want to generate profits."
A further risk Randall raises is ageing taxis. "The department of transport says the operating lifespan of a minibus taxi is about seven years. However, in my study I found that many drivers had vehicles of eight years or older; a quarter of them drove vehicles of 11 years and older."
Another threat to road safety, Randall discovered, is fatigue — a major issue for minibus taxi drivers. "The average work shift is about 15 hours a day. Many drivers work six days a week; most work seven days a week."
Randall says key factors determining road safety are the condition of vehicles, the state of roads and vehicle speed. "We need to address our road stock. SA has some shocking secondary and rural roads that are riddled with potholes and have no markings, safe pedestrian facilities or cycling facilities."
Randall says SA needs more road safety instruction in the school curriculum. "A child in SA might get an hour a year of road safety education — if they are lucky. A child in Germany might get 30 hours per grade."
Another problem is that local traffic laws do not align with best practices. "All our laws relating to speed, seatbelt laws, child restraint and drunk driving need a scientific basis and proper enforcement."
The government has tried since 1998 to implement the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto) to improve driver behaviour. Aarto regulates the planned demerit system for traffic offences. However, this month a judge of the high court in Pretoria ruled that Aarto and its amendments are unconstitutional.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) filed the application against Aarto. Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage tells the FM that Aarto failed constitutionally because the court found that the national government was trying to usurp the powers of local governments.
"Aarto is an administrative nightmare. It will collapse, like e-tolls, because it can’t be enforced, and people will stop paying their fines. Demerit systems require strong administrative systems," Duvenage says.
Outa noted in its court papers that the payment compliance rate for traffic infringement notices in Aaarto’s test run in Joburg was as low as 5%.
Duvenage says Outa has to apply to the Constitutional Court by February 3 to confirm the high court ruling.
Mbalula has indicated that the government will challenge it.
The Automobile Association says the government has spent too much money and time on the Aarto system, which was poorly constructed and will fail to improve road safety.
Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly says his organisation has spoken out about Aarto’s flaws. It believes Aarto is predicated on revenue generation instead of on improving road safety.
Randall’s chief concern about Aarto is the administrative inefficiencies of the government and road traffic systems.
"The National Traffic Information System is highly flawed. It presents opportunities for corruption, as there are not enough checks and balances.
"Public cynicism towards Aarto is problematic. SA has a law-breaking culture that dates back to the days of apartheid, when the laws were unethical and immoral, and the high moral ground was to defy certain laws. That culture has continued and is not helped by the government’s involvement in corruption, inefficiency and wastage of resources.
"Aarto is a good idea, in principle. Maybe it works in a few high-income countries with good technology and a population ready for it. But Aarto could be another failed exercise.
"Do we want to throw good money after bad?"
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