Global Road Safety campaign prioritises pedestrian safety
07 May 2013
In an effort to promote pedestrian safety and fight against road accidents, Mpumalanga has joined the Global Road Safety campaign which was launched in Soweto on 04 May 2013 by Transport Minister, Mr Ben Martins.
The campaign which will run for a week will focus mainly on pedestrian safety as statistics have shown an increase in road fatalities which involves pedestrians.
Since the launch of the campaign, three pedestrians were killed and two serious injured in road accidents in Thulamahashe and Barberton.
In Mpumalanga alone, since January 2013 to date, over 90 pedestrians have been killed and many injured on our roads.
This campaign forms part of the Decade of Action and aims at reducing accidents by 50 percent in year 2020 through education and enforcement.
In order to achieve this goal, Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison will during this campaign conduct educational tours with stakeholders such as the Red Cross, Municipalities and the South African Police Service to schools and communities to educate people about road safety.
MEC Vusi Shongwe says this campaign should not only be observed during this week, but 365 days of the year.
“We need people who will voluntarily become road safety ambassadors and educate their fellow community members about road safety.
“This is not government’s responsibility only, communities, schools and non government organisations must be on board to assist government to eliminate road accidents in the province and country,” said Shongwe.
He also called on parents and general community members to assist young children to cross roads where there are no scholar patrols on their way to schools.
He emphasised that parents and teachers should always encourage learners to cross roads on scholar patrol facilities or where there are pedestrian crossings.
Shongwe added that although the campaign focuses on educating road users, traffic officers will not turn a blind eye to road offenders.
The department has planned to visit Witbank on 08 May 2013, Bushbuckridge on 09 May 2013 and Standerton on 10 May 2013 to assist learners to cross busy and dangerous roads and also raise awareness on road safety in identified schools.
Enquiries: Joseph Mabuza
Tel: 013 766 4055
Cell: 082 678 1450
Issued by Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison
