Aftermath of a night accident at van Reenens. Apparently caused by another prior accident ahead of this one, and it occurred because the trucks were unable to stop in time when noticing stationary traffic ahead.

It has become an unfortunate tradition in South Africa to observe a dramatic spike in road accidents over every festive season. This tells us we are slow learners. 

While the past festive season saw a welcomed drop in the number of accidents and fatalities compared to past years, the figures are still far too high. According to Department of Transport spokesperson, Collen Msibi, there were 733 fatal accidents and 937 deaths during the month of December 2008. This is a considerably lower number than the 1 535 deaths recorded in December 2007. 

Heavy vehicles were involved in 77 accidents countrywide, claiming the lives of 119 people. This means that heavy vehicles were involved in over ten percent of these accidents and contributed to almost 13% of the total deaths. This is not good enough and more responsibility needs to be taken. South Africa has the worst road safety statistics in the world, but who is to blame? Transport operators, individuals and the government all need to take on the challenge of improving safety on our roads. 

While it is unreasonable to expect a death toll of zero, even though this is the ideal goal, the numbers must continue to go down. As members of the transport industry, we must take on a greater responsibility – whether it be drivers, operators, law-makers or law-breakers, we must all bring these figures down and must continue to work towards continuous improvement. 

If there is one thing that these statistics bring home, it is that an attitude of ‘it won’t happen to me’ is, quite frankly, stupid. It can happen to you and, if you’re not careful, it will. Ultimately, teamwork is needed and indeed the final word behind the wheel is up to us. 

Richard Macaskill

AS IN PAST years, FleetWatch sourced statistics on the heavy vehicle accidents from the Road Traffic Management Corporation in an attempt to establish the main causes of these accidents. Once again, we urge transporters to study these and interact with your drivers so as to avoid the common causes. Here they are, broken down into provinces: