The government is toying with the idea of making hauliers and public transport drivers comply with the stringent medical requirements applied to pilots to reduce road carnage, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said yesterday.
She said such a move would play a key role in meeting a UN plan that countries halve road fatalities by 2020.
"Pilots undergo medical check-ups. We have many people who are driving our buses, trains and trucks who are not examined frequently. In the aviation sector, pilots have stringent regulations and they have a responsibility to their passengers."
She said that, as part of the road safety campaign, her department was introducing medical checks, and public transport drivers would be required to be fit.
The minister said drivers should undergo health checks every six months.
She was speaking in Pretoria during the unveiling of an aviation medicine partnership with four universities and the SA Civil Aviation Authority.
Dr Lesego Bogatsu, manager of the authority's aviation medicine department, said common health problems of aircrew were depression, substance abuse, bipolar mood disorders, and central nervous system and cardiovascular conditions.
The authority's director of civil aviation, Poppy Khoza, said 260 designated aviation medical examiners were responsible for ensuring that 22000 pilots and cabin crew were fit to fly.
Khoza said that, worldwide, the human component accounted for more than 70% of aviation accidents.
She said aviation-related conditions such as hypoxia, dehydration, fatigue decompression syndrome, and spatial disorientation were responsible for a proportion of aviation tragedies.
"We still, to this day, hear frightening stories of mid-flight medical emergencies," she said.
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