Question NW700 to the Minister of Transport
20 March 2023 - NW700
Sithole, Mr KP to ask the Minister of Transport
Whether, with regard to reports that pedestrians account for up to 40% of the Republic’s road accident deaths, his department has any plans to deal with the specified matter; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The department does have the plan to deal with pedestrian fatalities on the roads.
In terms of that plan - which is encapsulated in the 365 days road safety programme, the Road Traffic Management Corporation, as the national lead agency on road safety, and provincial departments of community safety and transport jointly identify high-risk areas for pedestrian safety.
The plan identifies behaviour that puts pedestrians at risk such as jaywalking, drunk walking, distracted walking, scholar safety as well as the safe crossing of freeways and visibility.
The national and provincial teams then jointly deploy law enforcement and road safety operations in identified high-risk areas to discourage unsafe road usage by pedestrians.
The law enforcement and the road safety education and communication technical committees – comprised of the RTMC, traffic law enforcement authorities and road safety practitioners from all nine provinces – meet regularly to evaluate performance and decide on further required interventions.
The challenge with pedestrian crashes is that they take place within build-up areas where municipalities have jurisdiction. The mushrooming of informal settlements further exacerbates the situation as shops and transport amenities generally lie on the opposite side of major freeways requiring pedestrians to cross freeways when it is not safe to do so.