Increase in road fatalities is shocking, worrying, says the AA

The 14% increase in road deaths during the 2021/2022 festive season compared to 2020/2021 is shocking and worrying, and points to the need for urgent intervention and not mere promises of change.

The Automobile Association (AA) says the horrific figures, released by transport minister Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday will not be dealt with effectively unless real, effective amendments are made to current road safety practices.

“The fact that 1,685 people died on the country’s roads in the short period from December 1 2021 to January 11 2022 indicates that current approaches are simply ineffective. And unless the urgent intervention focuses on road safety education, more extensive traffic law enforcement, and better prosecution of offenders, these numbers will not reduce. Also, focusing on single aspects of road safety such as drunk driving while ignoring others such as pedestrian safety will not result in significant reductions in road fatalities,” said the AA.

The association says in light of the figures,  SA is far from achieving international targets it agreed to at the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm, Sweden, in early 2020. At that conference, SA committed itself to the international target of reducing road fatalities by half by 2030 as part of the worldwide 50BY30 Campaign. 

“Given the current road safety framework in the country — one which continually blames human error as the major cause of crashes and road deaths — these targets will remain unattainable. Unless a more comprehensive approach which focuses on safer drivers, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and better post-crash intervention, and which involves inputs from civil society organisations such as the AA, our dire road fatality statistics will never improve,” says the AA. 

It says it is also perplexed at Mbalula’s remarks that, “We have just concluded one of the most challenging festive season campaigns, which stretched our resources to the limit, putting a strain on our law-enforcement operations.”

“The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), the lead agency responsible for road safety in SA, had a surplus of more than R260m in its 2020 financial year. This raises serious questions about the allocation of funds to promote road safety and the minister’s claim that resources are being stretched to the limit,” the association said.

It “noted” Mbalula’s remarks that the department of transport will be appealing the ruling by the Pretoria high court last week that the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto), and its amendments, are unconstitutional. The court found that " ... the Aarto and amendment acts unlawfully intrude upon the exclusive executive and legislative competence of the local and provincial governments respectively and, as such, the two acts are unconstitutional”.

“Too much money and time has been spent on a system which, in our view, is poorly constructed and which will not lead to a reduction in road fatalities or an improvement in road safety in general. The court has made its ruling, and instead of trying to revive a system which will ultimately fail, government would be well advised to focus its energies on implementing effective road safety solutions for the country as a matter of urgency,” concluded the AA.