Transport Planning and Management – TPM01B1

Presented by Mrs Elmarie Kriel

ekriel@uj.ac.za
Second Semester 2019
Administrative

• Learner guide (posted on blackboard)

• Study material (posted on blackboard)
• Reader
• Handouts / articles / chapters from textbooks
• Presentation slides
• Lecturing schedule
• 15 October 2019 = last class
• There will be no class on 29 October 2019!
Learning Unit 7 – Road Safety Management
The outcomes of learning unit 7:

• Define road safety management

• Summarise the various causes of road accidents
• Analyse the negative impacts of road accidents
• Identify and discuss the initiatives that are in place to address road safety
management
Sources
To be accessed on Blackboard:

Prescribed:
• Transport Planning and Management Reader: Learning unit 7

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 Learning Unit 7 – Road Safety Management
• Road safety is a major concern in South Africa as well as in other countries worldwide.

• Every year more than one million people are killed and 50 million people are injured on roads around the world
(European Union, 2019).
• 
• If no effective actions are taken, deaths due to road accidents in low to middle-income countries are forecasted
to increase significantly in the near future (European Union, 2019).
• 
• Road safety management encompass the procedures and actions implemented to prevent road users from
being injured or killed whilst using roads.

• Road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, passengers in vehicles and passengers using public
transport such as buses and taxis.

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What is a road traffic accident?

A road traffic accident can be defined as an incident, event, collision or crash between (Arrive
Alive, 2019):
 
• Two or more vehicles
• A vehicle and a train
• A vehicle and a cyclist
• A vehicle and a pedestrian
• A vehicle and a fixed object, e.g. a bridge or a tree
• A single vehicle that overturned on a public road
 
An accident is seen as a single road traffic incident, irrespective of the number of vehicles or
individuals involved.

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Road traffic accidents can be categorised into four categories, according to the severity of the accident (Arrive
Alive, 2019):
 
• Fatal accident: An accident that results in the death of one or more persons. The person killed may be the
driver/s of the vehicles, or cyclists or pedestrians. Some individuals may sustain serious and slight injuries.

• Major accident: An accident where one or more individuals are seriously injured.

• Minor accident: An accident where one or more people are slightly injured.

• Damage only: An accident where no person is killed or injured and it only caused damage to the vehicle or
vehicles or to other property.

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When accidents happen there are bound to be casualties or injuries. These can be classified into three
categories (Arrive Alive, 2019) based on severity thereof:
 
• Fatality: One or more person is killed during or directly after an accident, or death of a person within six
days after the accidents as a result of the accident

• Serious injury: One or more individuals sustained injuries to an extent that hospitalisation is required.
Fractures, crushing, concussion, internal injuries, cuts and lacerations are all examples of serious injuries
and will require medical treatment or hospitalisation.

• Slight injury: One or more individuals sustained minor cuts and bruises, light shock and sprains. These
injuries are usually treated at the accident scene or at home with basic medication.

Accident Types

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Major causes of road accidents
 
The statistics on road accidents in South Africa are shocking and unfortunately citizens are not sensitised
enough on the matter. Despite various campaigns from government and other organisations the number of
accidents do not seem to decrease.
 
Research conducted by the Automobile Association (AA) (2019) identified a number of major causes of
road accidents in South Africa. These causes include:
 
• Driver Behaviour

• Unroadworhty vehicles

• Pedestrian safety

• Education
 

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Negative impacts of road accidents
 
Road accidents can have various impacts.

Physical injury is ever so often the most evident consequence.

However, recovering from physical injuries are only one of the aspects to deal with after an accident.
Other latent consequence can affect you as a result of a road accident and includes:
 
• Financial setbacks
•   
• Inability to work
•   
• Lack of transportation
•   
• Insurance premium increase
•  
• Emotional suffering
 

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Initiatives to address road safety management
 
In the past ten years almost 135 000 people died in road accidents in South Africa (AA, 2019).

This number is alarming and urgent intervention of some sort is required otherwise the death toll on the roads
will not decrease.

Several key plans need to be implemented and various issues should be addressed. These include (AA,
2019):
 
• Creating a safe environment for pedestrian to commute
• Nationwide pedestrian education campaigns
• Increased reliable safe public transport
• Introducing crash avoidance technology in vehicles
• Ensuring safety of fleet vehicles and delivery vehicles
• Ongoing road safety education
 

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• All road users should realise that the government can only do so much to improve road safety and reduce the
number of road accidents.

• Users should take some responsibility as well.

• Unfortunately, many citizens in South Africa have an adverse attitude towards road safety and traffic laws.

• Without an adjustment of attitude, efforts to decrease the number of road accidents will not be successful.

National Road Safety Strategy 2016 - 2030

 
• Road safety has become a global subject that is identified as one of the most demanding matters facing society
today.

• The objective of the National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) is to create a safe road environment for all users
with a substantial decrease in the number of injuries and fatalities caused by road accidents.
 
• The NRSS is part of government’s determination to ensure a safer, better and secure life for all and has an
emphasis on intensifying law enforcement.

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Arrive Alive Campaign

• The Arrive Alive Road Safety Campaign was initiated in 1997 with the aim of reducing the killing on South African
roads.

• Ever since it has become an essential part of the Department of Transport’s road safety projects and awareness
efforts especially during the busy Easter and December holiday periods (Arrive Alive, 2019).
• 
• Currently the safety campaign is operating under the banner “365 Days of Road Safety Programme”. The focus
now is to create awareness all year round and not just during certain periods. The objectives of this campaign is to
(Arrive Alive, 2019):
• Reduce the number of road traffic accidents in general, and fatalities specifically by 5% (compared with the same
period of the previous year)
• Improve road user compliance with traffic laws
• Establish better working relationships between traffic authorities in the different domains of government

• According to this campaign a reduction in road deaths are urgent and not negotiable!
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EXAM 2019

14 November 2019

180 minutes

120 marks

4 questions

Study Unit 1 - 7

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Attendance Register

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Thank you!

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