Scientific evidence needed to identify causes of fatal crashes

South Africa needs a scientific and verifiable process to identify why, when and where accidents occur. Only then can the country start addressing the causes of road accidents. According to Gavin Kelly, technical and operations manager of the Road Freight Association, the country has often relied on historical data, which is no longer correct or applicable. South Africa has an estimated 12 000 or more fatal crashes annually. While officials say this figure is slowly but surely decreasing, the number of accidents seems to be on the rise. Kelly says very often trucks are “blamed” for accidents, which is not true. “Incidents are not caused by trucks, but by light vehicles moving around them at ridiculous speeds and performing stops and turns in front of oncoming vehicles.” Heavy vehicles travel more slowly, and being 50 to 100 times heavier they take far longer to stop. Many operators have in recent years spent vast sums of money on the safety of trucks. “This has been anything from contour marking and reflective tape to LED technology for lamps, tracking devices to monitor speeds, direction and usage of the vehicle and expanded driver training and skilling programmes,” said Kelly. “Operators put massive amounts of time, energy and expense into the maintenance of their vehicles and truckers do not intentionally smash, crash and neglect assets that cost R1.5 million and more.” Many organisations, including the Automobile Association of South Africa, have however maintained that heavy vehicles are a major concern on the country’s roads and continue to be a critical threat due to unroadworthiness and bad driving. Says Kelly: “Most light vehicle drivers get their licences and then drive for 30 years thereafter. Truck drivers get retested every two to three years depending on the load and the company.”