Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says it is every driver\u2019s duty to contribute to road safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must all appreciate that safety on our roads is a collective responsibility that we must all shoulder.<\/p>\n
“Each one of us must be able to define their individual contribution to making our roads safer for our children as well as future generations. This starts with changing behaviour that places the lives of other road users at risk,\u201d said the minister.<\/p>\n
This comes in the wake of a number of crashes, each with multiple fatalities, in the Western Cape, Free State, Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.<\/p>\n
The Department of Transport said it has taken tangible steps towards curbing the carnage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rollout of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) is not just about a more efficient way of adjudicating road traffic offences, but also about creating effective incentives to change road user behaviour,\u201d said Mbalula.<\/p>\n
The minister said efforts to ensure that traffic policing becomes a 24\/7 activity are well underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are engaging with all traffic authorities in the country and traffic officers through relevant channels to ensure that the implementation of this intervention does not negatively affect conditions of service of our officers.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the coming weeks, Mbalula is expected to roll out a campaign that will drive road safety messages through a collaborative effort with organs of civil society.<\/p>\n
A social compact will underpin the ministry\u2019s agenda of accelerated service delivery and define the role of civil society in ensuring road safety.<\/p>\n