Use of technology in enforcement: project e- Force

Abstract

Paper presented at the 26th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9 - 12 July 2007 "The challenges of implementing policy?", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. ABSTRACT: The basis for traffic management is determined by the National Road Traffic Act and related legislation; supplemented by various policies, strategies, manuals and other supporting documentation. Traffic legislation not only addresses vehicle standards and driver behaviour on our roads - such as speeding, wearing of seatbelts, etc - but also prescribes, in detail, the exact process and procedures to be followed when, for example, a vehicle testing station or driving licence testing centre is assessed for registration and grading. The Act also prescribes the roles, responsibilities and duties of a number of role players in the road traffic environment – traffic officers, examiners of vehicles, etc. No road traffic management system can operate optimally without the full support of an accurate, reliable and comprehensive road traffic information system. Access to information on, amongst others, drivers, vehicles, infrastructure and resources is needed on a continuous, timely and real-time basis by many role players within the system to plan and perform their daily tasks, as well as to measure performance and outcomes. The ultimate aim, vision and mission of road traffic management are to promote compliance with legislative requirements, to improve road safety and to reduce fraud and corruption. Traffic management comprises many components that need to be integrated in a harmonised manner and ordered to such an extent as to obtain the desired results in the most effective way. This paper briefly describes some of the systems in place to address the above issues, with emphasis on improved use of technology to support accelerated capacity building in policing, through the so-called Project e-Force. This project is mainly aimed at assisting and improving the efficiency of officials and officers in some of the functional areas of road traffic management and law enforcement in particular, with the ultimate goal to improve law compliance and reduce road traffic crashes.