Abstract
South Africa is considered to be one of the worst countries in the world in terms of road safety, with an annual fatality rate of 14 000. Over the past decade, the annual fatality rate has increased significantly from approximately 10 000 to 14 000. This rising trend has also led to an increase in costs related to accidents from R581 billion lost during 1996-2006 (Gqaji, 2011) compared to R130 billion that was lost in 2013 alone (SANRAL, 2014). Despite numerous interventions such as Arrive Alive to reduce road deaths and injuries, the country’s annual crash and fatality rate continues to increase, especially amongst vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists who comprise nearly 50% of these mortalities. This study was undertaken to investigate the causes of the increase in the crash rate, despite numerous attempts to reduce road crashes and fatalities in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to explore what an effective road safety strategy should consist of, in order to identify what is missing and to thereby improve the safety on South African roads. A quantitative research methodology was conducted using structured questionnaires which were administered to 92 purposively sampled decision makers from 38 organizations associated with road transport and which impact road safety in Johannesburg. The findings, although non-generalizable, indicate that there are poor perceptions of the effectiveness of road safety programmes as well as a relatively low level of awareness of these interventions. It was also revealed that road safety programmes should be considered from a systemic perspective in order for them to be effective. To achieve the desired impact, it was found that these programmes should incorporate driver attitude, law enforcement, adequate road infrastructure, reliable data on road crash statistics as well as increased coordination of road safety initiatives between implementing authorities. Among the recommendations made for interventions to be successful were the necessity to incorporate local community’s interests in the design and implementation of road safety programmes. Through incorporating opinions from as wide a range as possible of road safety stakeholders from government, private sector, semi-government and NGOs, this study was important because it highlighted some of the critical success factors for an effective and sustainable road safety strategy that will potentially reduce the number of deaths on South African roads.
M.A. (Development Studies)