Developing a comprehensive road safety plan for eThekwini

Abstract

Paper presented at the 23rd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 12 - 15 July 2004 "Getting recognition for the importance of transport", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. International research indicates that road traffic accidents are going to be a leading cause of mortality and disability in the future. Global Road Safety Partnership projects that by the year 2020, road crashes will be the 3rd leading burden on health worldwide exceeded only by cardiovascular diseases and major depression. Road accident occurrence rates also tend to distinguish the developed from the developing world. For South Africa to be a caring nation and to lead the way in the development of southern Africa nations, it follows that the importance of road safety cannot be underestimated. The annual loss of life on the roads is horrific, and the cost of accidents to the country is enormous. A significant proportion of South Africa’s accidents occur in the large urban concentrations. It follows that in order to achieve national success a comprehensive strategy is required at the city level. It is in this context that the eThekwini Road Safety Plan is the subject of this paper. EThekwini is in the process of developing a comprehensive and integrated road safety plan to effectively address the road safety problem. The paper will focus on the importance of road safety to South Africa as a nation (and eThekwini in particular ) and the overall development of eThekwini’s road safety plan. Key issues that have been identified from extensive status quo assessments of current education, enforcement, emergency services, engineering and data capture programmes will be highlighted. Also, legislation issues and the institutional arrangements of the newly formed Transport Authority to deal with road safety will be mentioned. Finally, lessons learnt to date will be given to assist other Municipalities on developing similar plans. [Please note that the views expressed in the paper are those of the author and not necessarily those of the eThekwini Transport Authority or eThekwini Municipality.]