Ahead of the Easter long weekend, there will once again be official calls for motorists to take extra care on our roads, which are plagued by unacceptable numbers of accidents, injuries and fatalities. The warnings have become a ritual around holidays and long weekends throughout the year.
With the number of road deaths showing no sign of abating, is it not high time South Africa reflected on the effectiveness of its approach, which has proved again and again to be ineffectual? For example, despite efforts to ostensibly change things for the better, road fatalities in the past festive season increased by 5.3%, to 1,502, over the previous season.
While we regard certain times of the year to be particularly dangerous, the truth is that too many of us die on the roads throughout the year
While we regard certain times of the year, particularly the Easter and December breaks, to be particularly dangerous, the truth is that too many of us die on the roads throughout the year, averaging more than 10,000 people.
The solution lies, for a start, in changing the culture of reckless disregard for road rules, which, thanks to poor enforcement, many believe they can get away with. The antisocial behaviour includes drinking and driving and using unroadworthy vehicles.
The authorities must also address poor road infrastructure (one of the causal factors), which includes bad surfaces, potholes and broken traffic lights. And then there is the less-spoken-about, but no less insidious, matter of driving licence corruption, which makes it possible for poorly trained, or untrained, people to get behind the wheel and endanger the lives of all road users.
Making our roads safer has to be a national effort that is sustained throughout the year.
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