Channel your road rage: be a traffic spy

 

31 MAY 2013 00:00 CHARLES LEONARD

It's quite easy to become a traffic impimpi. Charles Leonard tells you how you can become one.

There is an old joke about how easy it is to become a traffic cop.

"Give me any number between one and 10."

"Five?"

"Well done, the job is yours!"

Despite the poor public image of traffic officers, it is obviously much more difficult than that. But it is almost as easy as in the joke to become a traffic impimpi (spy), or voluntary public traffic observer (VPTO), to give the not so snappy official title.

You dial 0861400800, a number that belongs to the umbrella body for enforcement, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), get a form and register. If you do not have a criminal record and it is clear you're not just out to take revenge on, say, your ex or your boss, they give you a PIN number and then the revenge on the real bad drivers can start.

"If you see a bad driver you call in and give your PIN number," explains RTMC spokesperson Ashref Ismail. "You then need to give the vehicle's registration number and where and when the incident happened.

"Next we check on ­eNatis [the national vehicle licensing database] and post the bad driver a strongly worded letter. If they get reported repeatedly we will dispatch traffic officers and make sure appropriate steps are taken."

Even though the project was initiated by the department of transport back in 2003 and there are 6000 volunteers (about 1 000 are active), Ismail admits the scheme needs more publicity.

He says the RTMC is working on a relaunch in October during Transport Month and that by then there will be a properly-staffed call centre with sufficient IT to make sure the project functions properly.

"We get an average of 450 complaints a month," Ismail says. "It's about people jumping lights, kids not strapped in, drivers talking on cellphones, others overtaking on a solid line.

"We understand how that can annoy law-abiding drivers. With this project they can do something and avoid road rage."

People who get their kicks dressing up in uniforms will need to apply somewhere else. "It's anonymous, so no uniforms."

It has been effective, says Ismail, "especially where transgressors drive company cars. Some of our reports have led to full disciplinary hearings."

Ismail believes that, when functioning fully, the project will help to bring down the death toll on South African roads.

And don't we need anything that can help to reduce the carnage?

According to the International Transport Forum's road safety annual report for 2013, which was released earlier in May, South Africa fared the worst of the 36 countries polled, with 27.6 road deaths for every 100 000 inhabitants in 2011 (11228 fatal crashes resulting in 13954 fatalities). The lowest was the United Kingdom with 3.1 road deaths per 100 000 inhabitants.

The only other country with more than 20 deaths was Malaysia with 23.8. Other developing countries fared a lot better, with road deaths in Cambodia at 13.1 per 100 000 people, Jamaica at 11.3 for every 100 000 people and Columbia with 12 road deaths per 100 000 people.

"Seat belt use [in South Africa] has been compulsory in both front and rear passenger seats, except for older ... models that do not have rear seat belts," said the report. "However, the wearing rate is very low."

In addition to the human cost, road crashes cost the economy about R307-billion a year, the report says.

Charles Leonard is the news editor of the Mail & Guardian newspaper.

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