Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Gabisile Shabalala has once again called on motorists, especially truck drivers, to exercise extreme caution on the roads to avoid fatalities.
This after an accident involving a Sedan and a truck on the R23 between Balfour and Greylingstad near Sprucewell claimed three lives on Tuesday.
According to an eyewitness, the Sedan crashed into the rear of the truck, which then overturned and rolled over the passenger vehicle.
The three who died at the scene include the Sedan driver and two passengers, while the truck driver walked away unharmed.
Meanwhile, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) together with Santam have since collaborated with their stakeholders to raise road safety awareness and driver wellness, focusing on long-distance truck drivers.
Santam, South Africa’s largest general insurer, and the RTMC are determined to promote heavy vehicle road safety to reduce the number of preventable truck accidents.
According to RTMC’s spokesperson Simon Zwane, heavy load vehicles with a mass of 3.5 tons or more were involved in 4% of crashes resulting in 1 250 deaths in 2019.
“Now in its third year, the partnership aims to raise awareness around fatigue and health issues that have a direct impact on truck accidents,” Zwane said.
The head of heavy haulage at Santam, Anton Cornelissen, said he believed that road safety was the domain of everyone, not just government.
“Further advancement of the country’s road safety initiatives, such as driver and pedestrian behaviour, as well as awareness of the sector’s economic benefits, are extremely important,” Cornelissen added.
He said that truck drivers worked under unique physically demanding conditions which put them at increased risk of a range of chronic health conditions, including diabetes and hypertension.
These conditions, coupled with fatigue, could negatively affect the reaction time and significantly increase the risk of collisions, he explained.
The partners are calling on truck drivers to get enough rest and a minimum of six hours of sleep before a long trip.
“They should also not drive continuously for more than five hours and follow this up with a break of at least 15 minutes.”
Zwane is encouraging fleet operators to prioritise the health and wellness of truck drivers as the festive season, which is characterised by a high fatal crash rate, approaches.
– SAnews.gov.za
