Garry Savill and Zurika Louw represented SARTSMA at the National Road Safety Summit, hosted by the Minister of Transport, Ms. ED Peters, on the 4th and 5th of October 2013 at Birchwood Conference Centre in Ekurhuleni. The Summit was part of a consultative process to inform stakeholders of the South African Road Safety Strategy going forward. This comes after the Minister provided the keynote address and revealed that statistics show vehicle crashes on South African Roads cost the economy in a region of R600bn per annum. The Minister appealed to all stakeholders for input to curb the current situation, as part of the consultative process. The Five Pillars of the Road Safety Strategy, namely:-
Road Safety Management
Safer Vehicles
Safer Road Users
Safer Roads and Mobility
Post Crash Care
And a sixth topic, AARTO & Legal and Regulatory Structure, were presented by the various Heads of Departments, after which breakaway groups were formed to engage and discuss tactics to improve each pillar strategy.
Garry Savill addressed the Safer Roads and Mobility forum, on behalf of SARTSMA, regarding poor specification, administration and general standard of road traffic signs, once driving off the National routes (some exceptions noted), and proposed the following improvements:
the development of credible standards for road traffic signs;
a revision of the SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual on manufacturing standards and retro-reflective sheeting specifications to conform with global trends and technology; and
to revisit the previous proposal to ensure that Fluorescent Yellow Green colour be designated for background of “Vulnerable Road Users” signage (pedestrians, cyclists, etc.), as currently used in USA.
Zurika addressed the forum, on behalf of SANA, on the lack of regulation and security in the number plate industry and the consequences thereof. All points were well received, noted and used in the formal summit summary.
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