Do it yourself road safety. The South African Insurance Association has joined forces with Shayela Approved, a defensive driving initative led by former racing driver Basil Mann to encourage transport companies to adopt a self regulatory approach to improve road safety.

This is according to Basil Mann, former racing driver and director of Shayela Approved, the defensive driving partner to the South African Insurance Association (SAIA). 

Mann who was speaking at a recent meeting of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE) says around 16 000 people died on South African roads last year. “This year we expect this figure to rise to around 20 000, that’s one every 28 minutes, at a total cost to the country of about R75-billion. 

“If we wait for the government or the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) to guide private sector investment in road traffic management and to promote safety, security and discipline on the roads it will never happen,” Mann says. 

Mann is not hitting out at the authorities for the bad driving and human interface between safe and dangerous driving. While he says there is a need for more vigilance from the traffic authorities he says, in general that South Africans have a very stubborn and pig headed approach when it comes to discussing their driving skills and have visions of grandeur when it comes to their competency behind the wheel. 

Stating that a person’s driving is a reflection of their outlook on life, Mann says on the whole, when it comes to driving, South African drivers have an extremely poor and dangerous attitude: “South African drivers are ignorant, inexperienced and aggressive and you can’t tell or teach them anything about driving,” Mann says candidly. “If a guy sleeps with his best friend’s wife the friend may eventually forgive him, but if you tell him he’s a lousy driver he will probably never speak to you again.”

Mann explains that Shayela Approved has, in consultation with training facilities around the country, developed a set of minimum standards for the training of defensive driving which it hopes will lead to better driving and better results for the motor insurance industry. 

Further to this Shayela Approved will offer potential “partners” from the driver training fraternity to apply and come on board as approved service providers and present the courses to SAIA Insurance Approved standards for all insured drivers. 

“We will also classify and approve capable instructors who will be accredited with a certification number to enable us to track his trained client’s progress,” says Mann. “Should an insured driver pass the driving test, they then can expect a benefit from their insurers. Shayela has also negotiated a “no-loading” policy with certain insurance houses for the under 25's and new drivers successfully completing the course." 

According to Mann there are numerous challenges facing road and driver safety in the trucking sector: “For example, because there is a shortage of experienced drivers it is possible that young and inexperienced drivers are driving extra heavy trucks and abnormal loads – this should never be allowed to happen.” 

Mann says an additional problem is to find decent professionally trained drivers. On the role of driver training provided by truck manufacturers Mann says, as good as they are, these trainers are essentially product trainers and do not teach safety and defensive driving. 

Driver health is another area of some concern. Mann says that, in the course of training drivers, they come across a number of truck drivers with serious health problems such as diabetes for example. Poor health will obviously affect a person’s driving ability and Mann says there is great need in the trucking industry for more care and attention to be paid to driver health and well being. 

In the meantime, Shayela Approved has come to an agreement with optometrist group SpecSavers to provide truck drivers with free vision testing and, if necessary, will provide spectacles at a special rate. 

Changing tack slightly, Mann says the hiring of foreign truck drivers also presents problems as it is almost impossible to check the validity of their driving licences. This is an untenable situation for SAIA and Mann reports that in the very near future SAIA members will not insure vehicles driven by foreign drivers unless they have been properly assessed and meet Shayela standards. 

Comprehensive driver education and ongoing evaluations are critical elements in any program aimed at improving driving ability and should be implemented as a matter of urgency says Mann: “For the majority of truck drivers the only certificate they have is their K53 driving license. This is not good enough, truck drivers should have a career path mapped out for them, they need ongoing driver training and refresher courses.” 

As far as the K53 test is concerned Mann says it teaches people how to pass a test but not necessarily how to drive. “People then embark on a lifetime of developing bad habits, and the road accident statistics that horrify us year on year bear witness to the fact that bad attitudes and bad habits lead to collisions and death.”

In spite of this Mann reports that, to date, there has been a mixed reaction from trucking companies whose drivers have been assessed by Shayela Approved under SAIA’s instruction. “Some companies see this as a positive step while others see it as an interference in their business, or complain that the R850,00 per driver assessment, which is redeemable, is excessive,” he comments. 

Mann says that in the future insurance companies will not insure trucking companies whose drivers do not meet the required level of competence. “We have negotiated with the insurance industry to allow drivers who pass and then keep their certification up to date to get recognition and other privileges from their insurers.”