Passing gap for cyclists won't work: report

 

Sapa | 12 January, 2013 16:21

A cyclist lights a candle under a 'ghost bike' that was chained to the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg on Friday night as a tribute to Olympic cyclist Burry Stander, who was killed this week
Image by: JAMES OATWAY

The proposed 1.5m safe passing gap for cyclists on roads may be difficult to maintain and enforce, according to a report on Saturday.

 

eThekwini's deputy head of road system management Carlos Esteves said the 1.5m gap would not be practical as the standard lanes were around 3.5m or slightly less, the Saturday Star reported.

"My sense is that it will be difficult if not impractical to enforce 1.5m," Esteves said.

"You can't achieve a cyclist, plus 1.5m and a motorist without encroaching on the other lane."

Cyclists across South Africa have been calling for the measure and started calling it the Burry's Gap after the death of mountain bike ace Burry Stander on January 3.

Stander was killed in Shelley Beach on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast in a collision with the taxi.

Automobile Association public affairs head Gary Ronald said the gap was at a national discussion level and forms part of last year's amendments to the Traffic Act,

"Where the road is wide enough, it will work, but we have quite a few roads where it is narrow and difficult to apply without cars going into the oncoming traffic."

BOOZE ‘THE WORST CULPRIT ON ROADS’

MORE THAN 1 200 road crashes caused the deaths of nearly 1 500 people over the festive season across South Africa, transport authorities have confirmed.

PICTURE: DUMISANI DUBE   WRECKAGE This is all that was left of an Audi R8 after it’s driver hit a tree, a pole and a lamp post during a high-speed chase in Rosebank, Joburg, yesterday. Two people were killed in the accident

Transport Minister Ben Martins announced the preliminary road deaths in Durban yesterday and said the crashes were caused by drunk driving, speeding, dangerous overtaking, failure to use seatbelts and vehicle unroadworthiness.

“According to the SA Police Service, it is estimated that approximately 1 465 people lost their lives,” Martins said. He added that the deaths occurred between December 1 and January 8, and 40 percent of the crashes involved pedestrians, most of whom walked on roads drunk.

He called for a ban on alcohol advertising to prevent motorists driving drunk.

The number of death has decreased since December 2011, when the festive death toll stood at around 1 700.

Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) acting chief executive officer Collins Letsoala said 60 percent of the crashes were caused by drunk drivers and they cost the economy R180 billion of the R306 billion lost to road deaths annually.

According to the Automobile Association of SA (AA) these numbers are an indication of the lack of “cohesive” direction from the various government transport associations.

While the AA was devastated by the high number of crashes and fatalities announced, the South African public are still not getting the full picture of the carnage on a month to month basis, it said.

“The Decade of Action was launched in 2011, and since then, no real projects other than enforcement have been implemented. Real action to curb the road carnage is impossible when there is no cohesive strategy,” said Gary Ronald, head of public affairs at the AA.

He added that despite several strategies, from various transport bodies, there was still no policy framework for road safety in evidence.

The Decade of Action for Road Safety was launched on May 11, 2011, and had governments from around the world take a decision to increase action to address road safety and to prevent five million road deaths globally by 2020.

“The continuing division between these bodies is clearly doing more harm than good as the number of deaths on our roads has not decreased over the 2012 period,” Ronald said.

He said that the AA was engaging with the government to find a workable solution.

“Planning is only as good as it’s implementation and that we have seen little of,” he said.

The AA will be engaging with government at a senior level to find a workable solution to the problems preventing road safety from working on South Africa’s roads, Ronald added.

Over the festive season, 1 282 586 vehicles were stopped and checked at 226 road block operations and resulted in 3 944 arrests for various offences.

Letsoala said there would be a renewed focus on corrupt driving schools and officers.

Meanwhile, Sapa reported that a motorist who raced away while a policeman was in his car searching for drugs, killed them both when he crashed in Rosebank in Joburg during a high speed chase yesterday, said police.

Lieutenant- Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said two police officers stopped the Audi R8 and searched it.

When they found a small amount of dagga, the driver sped off with one police officer still inside the vehicle. The other policeman gave chase in the police van.

“The Audi driver lost control in Rosebank and hit a tree, a wall and a light pole,” said Dlamini.

The policeman and the motorist were declared dead at the scene.

Dlamini said the policeman’s name would be released after his family had been informed.

5 MORE DIE ON CAPE ROADS

 

• 7 Jan 2013
• Cape Argus
• Natasha Prince STAFF REPORTER

 

Traffic chief urges caution behind the wheel

‘WE CAN’T KEEP ON LOSING 40 PEOPLE A DAY. IT COSTS THE ECONOMY MORE THAN R300BN EVERY YEAR’

AS STREAMS of holidaymakers returned home this weekend the death toll continued to soar with as many as 1 300 people having died since the beginning of the festive season – higher than this time last year.

By 3.30pm yesterday five people had died in road deaths in the province this weekend.

Yesterday Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa gave an update on figures from the scene of one of the fatal accidents, on the N1 near Prince Albert where two women died when a light motor vehicle and a bakkie collided.

Africa said there were two truck accidents on Saturday, the first at 9am along the Vanrhynsdorp Pass.

The driver had lost control and overturned a truck, which crushed down the mountain. A man and a woman were killed, Africa said.

Later, between around 3pm and 4pm, another truck had overturned between Paarl and Worcester.

In December the Western Cape saw 153 road deaths, compared to 151 in December 2011.

Africa said negligence, behavioural problems and fatigue contributed to 80 percent of road accidents this festive season, even though road traffic in December had increased by 7 percent compared to the year before.

“It seems most of our accidents are taking place between the Beaufort West, Aberdeen, Laingsberg areas and also on the N2 – Mossel Bay, Garden Route areas,” Africa said.

“One pertinent thing is that people just don’t want to adhere to the call not to drive if you are not well rested.”

On Saturday the death toll during the festive season on Western Cape roads reportedly stood at 160, with seven deaths recorded last week alone.

On Saturday the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said the festive season death toll on the nation’s roads had risen to 1 300.

RTMC spokesman Ashref Ismail said the main causes of fatalities were speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and walking while drunk.

“We need to change our mindset. We can’t continue like this. We can’t keep on losing 40 people a day. It costs the economy more than R300 billion a year,” said Ismail.

Traffic officers set up 24 roadblocks across the province this weekend and checked 2 850 vehicles and tested alcohol levels of 1 215 motorists. Eleven alleged drunk drivers were arrested. One motorist was caught driving at 166km/h in a 100km/h zone, between Worcester and Paarl on the N1.

Fines totalling R234 000 were issued for various traffic offences.

Officers tested 31 091 drivers for speeding of which 4 063 were fined.

In the past four days four drivers were arrested for speeding, with the fastest speeds 213km/h, 178km/h, 163km/h and 166km/h. These drivers were arrested “on the spot” Africa said.

Among the high speeds recorded this weekend, officers found drivers doing 176km/h in a 120km/h zone between Paarl and Brackenfell; 189km/h in a 100km/h zone between Worcester and Paarl; 117km/h in a 80km/ h zone along the N2 near Swellendam, and 105km/ h in a 60km/h zone near Oudsthoorn.

Africa said that overtaking when it was not safe, drivers’ impatience, and road rage were still concerns.

Africa encouraged people to report bad driving to 021 946 1646.

Drunk Driving in South Africa - Laws

by Guest Blogger on 08 August 2012

Drunk driving in South Africa is not to be taken lightly and drinking and driving is a very serious offence. The gravity of drunken driving charges should be enough to frighten anyone away from driving drunk, but there can also be far more grave repercussions that can occur when drivers don’t watch their blood alcohol limit – these can be fatal consequences.

Drive South Africa have joined the IPledge Movement against drunk driving. 

Are you familiar with the South African drunk driving laws? Do you know when you are beyond the limit? Do you understand what charges can be levied against you if your blood alcohol limit is beyond what it should be?

Above: Don't practice drunk driving in South Africa by Konrad Baranski

Detecting drunk driving in South Africa

Blood Alcohol Limits

The South African Road Traffic Act 93/96 has been in effect since March 1998. Whether you are driving in your home town or on roads foreign to you in a car hire vehicle, these laws are extremely important to obey. These laws are in place to help protect the community and to make sure that drunk drivers are reprimanded. 

• The legal blood alcohol limit in South Africa is less than 0.05 g per 100 ml
• The legal breath alcohol limit in South Africa is less than 0.24 mg in 1000 ml of breath

In simple terms, this means that 2 drinks over the space of 1 hour will put you over the limit. Below is a breakdown of alcohol units per drink type:

• 1 x 75 ml glass of wine = 1 unit
• 1 x 250 ml glass of wine = 3.3 units
• 1 x shot/shooter = ½ unit in most instances
• 1 x spirit cooler = about 1.25 units
• 1 x beer = 1.5 units or possibly more
• 1 x cider = 2 units
• 1 x 25 ml tot of spirits = 1 unit
• 1 x cocktail = Between 2 and 4 units

Source: Drunk Driving Laws in South Africa

1 unit is equal to 0.02g blood alcohol

It takes your body approximately 1 hour to process 1 unit of alcohol. Ideally, after drinking any alcohol you should avoid getting into the driver’s seat of your car, but at least this way you can work out how long it takes for the alcohol to leave your system.

According to Dr Charles Parry of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Group under the Medical Research Council (MRC) 40% of drivers who die on the road have alcohol levels in excess of .08 gms / 100 ml.

Local Drunk Driving Laws in South Africa

Any person driving on South African roads should be familiar with the local drunk driving laws in South Africa. Here’s a summary of the laws to make it easier for you:

1. No person on a public road shall -

Occupy a driver's seat of a motor vehicle, the engine of which is running, while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a drug having a narcotic effect.

2. No person on a public road shall -

Occupy a driver's seat of a motor vehicle, the engine of which is running, while the concentration of alcohol in any specimen of blood taken from his or her body is not less than 0.05 grams per 100 millilitres.

3. The two-hour rule -

According to the National Traffic Act 1996, if in any prosecution for a contravention of the provisions of subsection (2), it is proved that the concentration of alcohol in any specimen of blood taken from any part of the body of the person concerned was not less than 0.05 grams per 100 millilitres at any time within two hours after the alleged offence, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such concentration was not less than 0.05 grams per 100 millilitres of blood at the time of the alleged offence.

Implications of Being Caught Drunk Driving in South Africa

Perhaps you’ve been “lucky” up to now and you have not been caught drinking and driving; because you think that you are capable of driving drunk. But what are the implications if you do get caught?

If you’re found guilty of drunk driving in South Africa you could face up to 6 years in jail. You could also be liable for fines of up to R120 000 and your driver’s license may be suspended. You will also have a criminal record which can have serious ramifications for the rest of your life. Of course, the worst case scenario is that you could kill someone else on the road, your loved ones or yourself.

Solution to drunk driving in South Africa

There is some good news for those folks who are out on the town and find they’re unable to drive home. If you're worried about driving your vehicle back to your hotel drunk (which you should be), ask Drive South Africa to book you a car with a supplier partnered with a designated driver service. This means that you won't have to drive your car rental when intoxicated and breach your car hire contract.

Source: Responsible car hire

Please, don't practise drunk driving in South Africa. Drive responsibly on our roads.

Fitness Test Cop Dies

Common sense? Editorial Argus

 

OBESITY and fitness are problems that beset far too many South Africans, affecting not just their health, but how they can function on a day-to-day basis.

Erstwhile head of the South African Police Services, Bheki Cele, himself a fitness fanatic, had during his tenure tried to get members to get fit, and lose weight. And as with the police, traffic officers also need to be healthy and fit to successfully perform their duties.

It is perhaps no surprise then that the Road Traffic Inspectorate felt it necessary to test the physical fitness of candidates for 90 posts they wanted to fill.

But, asking the more than 30 000 applicants to run 4km in under 30 minutes without first vetting their health, was a grave and, ultimately, fatal mistake.

Eight people have died as a result and more than 230 treated after being made to run in temperatures between 35 and 40 degrees in Pietermaritzburg last week.

The desperation of the applicants – more than 350 people applied for each post – highlights the sad reality of unemployment.

But the RTI recruiters should have realised that such desperation would mean that even unfit applicants would push themselves beyond their limits in a an attempt to get work.

Better planning was needed. First they should have weeded out the majority of applicants by comparing, for instance, their academic record, or experience.

This screening would have created a pool of applicants to be assessed by a medical team.

Those making the short list could then be asked to show their fitness, under proper monitoring, and most definitely not during hot and humid conditions that would tax even a professional athlete.

Such action borders on criminal negligence, and a thorough investigation should not just look at minions who might have ordered the applicants to run, but also at management, where there appears to have been little understanding of human resource management.

Not to mention no common sense.