Digicore announces excellent all round performance!

Digicore Holdings announced Group interim Results for the six month period ended 31 December 2007. Hereby find an extract from the results:

Operating Profit Up 61%
Revenue Up 63%
Earnings Per Share Up 46%

The DigiCore board is extremely proud to announce an excellent all round performance from our subsidiaries, distributors, support divisions and branches for the six months ended 31 December 2007. We have managed to grow our turnover and basic earnings per share by 63% and 46% respectively, despite a generally tougher trading environment.

What made this growth even more remarkable is the fact that we have had compounded year-on-year growth, in excess of 30%, over the past six years.

Financial results

Our operating profit grew by 61% from R48.8 million (2006) to R78.6 million. Earnings per share increased to 23.5 cents per share opposed to 16.1 cents per share in the comparative period last year, representing growth of 46%.

Cash generated from operating activities increased to R50.0 million from R42.4 million (2006) for the period. Cash and cash equivalents decreased by R11.8 million over the six-month period mainly due to dividend and tax payments as well as increased working capital requirements emanating from aggressive sales growth.

Inventories as a percentage of cost-of-sales have decreased although the rand value increased by R17 million from June 2007. Work-in-progress over the holiday season for final production and shipment in January 2008 was one of the main reasons for this increase.

Our debtors book increased by a further R5 million during the six-month period. The average outstanding debtors days have, however, decreased by 31 days despite the fact that payment on exported products entails a relatively lengthy chain of events in our international subsidiaries.

We are continuously focusing our attention on methods of reducing the working capital requirements.

[ Digicore is a leader in fleet managment and a sponsor of the Arrive Alive Road Safety Website]

Can we expect commuter activism?

In the past this Blog has dealt with the topic ” Save a thought for the safety of commuters in South Africa”. Since this post there have been numerous accident reports involving minibus taxis. Last week we added the story on the death of 2 commuters from a taxi that appeared to have overturned after speeding around a corner in Midrand.

On the 20th of February the MEC for Public Transport, Roads and Works in Gauteng, Ignatius Jacobs condemned in the strongest possible terms, the ill treatment and alleged indecent assault of young women at the Noord Street Taxi Rank. MEC Jacobs has called for the leadership of the taxi industry to intervene and to work with taxi commuters in exposing the people involved in such acts of indecency.

In an address before the South African Commuters Organization, Minister Jeff Radebe stated that commuters have the following rights:
• Freedom to choose the public transport mode or vehicle from those available that they would like to use, where this choice affects their safety
• Safe public transport services and roadworthy vehicles
• Drivers with valid license and professional driving permits
• Reliable services that transport them according to schedule or expectation
• Travel on vehicles that are not overloaded or overcrowded
• Professional and courteous treatment from the drivers and staff of all public transport operators
• Travel on a public transport service without experiencing any form of harassment or discrimination

The reality is however that few commuters have any option but to climb on the first available vehicle. Earlier this week a reader commented on the plight of commuters as follows:

“ I am feeling deeply sorry for the family’s who lost their loved ones in this crush. But unfortunately we all need to make decisions on a daily basis. For example, if I need transport to go into town, it will be my decision if I want to travel with a unroadworthy vehicle or with one of the new taxi’s on the road. As long as the commuters use the old unroadworthy taxi’s they will stay on the road. If the “people” decide not to use the old taxi’s, and boycott them, they will disappear from the road. It is like buying CD’s at the robot, as long as we buy them they will sell them. Stop waiting for the Government to do something about it, they will not. It is only the “people” who will be able to do something about the scrab taxi’s that endanger our life’s on a daily basis. We are unfortunately a third world country, and it will stay like this until we do something about it. The government of today can only stay in power as long as we allow them to be their - if you want change in South Africa, do something about it. As long as the “people” allow the scrab taxi’s to roll the roads, they will continue to do so.”

I doubt whether the unfortunate commuters will be ready for activism and placing pressure on the taxi industry.

At a Transport Indaba in KZN Minster Radebe said that the barbaric acts of the taxi operators assaulting a woman for wearing a miniskirt has “reinforced the view that taxi drivers are a law unto themselves” This is something to be addressed by transport authorities as a matter of urgency. As we approach the 2010 World Cup it will be required that everything be done to improve the safety of passengers on the roads across South Africa.

The safety of commuters will require activism not only from commuters but also from government and law enforcement officials!!

Paramedics urge the public towards seat belt awareness!

During the early hours of Wednesday morning a young man of 21 died after rolling his car on Witkoppen road near St Peter’s school. He was the son of a well known local surgeon.

Arriving paramedics found the car on it’s roof with the driver lying on the inside of the cars roof, his head seemingly having taken most of the impact, and the angle of his head and neck was unnatural. A fracture to the spinal column could well have been the cause of death.

The car had relatively little damage and the driver’s compartment was intact compared to many other vehicles that have been in rollover incidents. Considering the possibility that the driver was not restrained by a safety belt, would it have made a difference if he had been restrained ?

EMS personnel attend to motor vehicle rollover incidents where the occupants are still in their seats, held by the safety belt, still in the upside down position, this saves them from falling with their whole body weight as well as the combined force of momentum head first onto the roof. Not to mention the forces involved during the rollover.

During the early hours of this morning (Friday) a mom was travelling with her daughter on the M1 freeway near Parktown. The driver lost control, the car hit the barrier then left the road landing up in a tree.

Arriving paramedics found both occupants lying outside of the vehicle, restrained occupants generally will be kept within the ‘relatively safer’ protective shell of the vehicle. A far better scenario than being thrown out, where you are suddenly totally unprotected, your body can be propelled into any stationary object, or the vehicle itself can roll over you, or another vehicle can drive over you. (This sounds terrible but it does happen.)

The mom and daughter in this instance both sustained fractures to their spinal column. The mom’s condition was more stable at the time as it did not seem that the injury had damaged the spinal cord. The younger girl however sustained injuries that appear to have damaged her spinal cord. If that is the case, these irreversible injuries will mean she will be paralysed to a certain degree. ( the severity at this stage is not known )
We do not know for certain if these occupants were restrained or not ? But if they had been, could it have made a difference ?

EMS personnel including our operational doctors feel powerless and helpless in these situations as the injuries are so severe and irreversible that there is absolutely nothing that can be done to help.

These traumatic incidents change lives forever.

Hence the request. Please buckle up !

One of the victims mentioned was a close friend of a Netcare 911 staff member. Sometimes it’s a bit too close to home!

[ Information provided by Netcare 911 to the Road Safety & Arrive Alive Blog]

NETCARE 911
Emergency No. 082 911

National Traffic Call Centre reveals reports for 2007

A more comprehensive report on aspects such as the highest type of offence reported or the most reported type of vehicle, etc, is planned for 2008. Visit the Call Centre section on the Arrive Alive Road Safety Website for more information on the Reporting of Bad Driving!!

2 killed in taxi collision in Midrand

Wednesday 20 February 2008

Two people died at the scene of a taxi accident today on the N1 North just before the Olifantsfontein bridge. The taxi had been travelling North in the fast lane when the driver lost control and swerved sharply to the left, crossing all the other lanes before leaving the road and rolling down an embankment coming to a stop just next to the freeway on ramp. Several passengers were flung from the vehicle as it overturned.

Arriving paramedics and a Netcare 911 doctor found one woman already dead on scene and 3 others that were critical, one of these patients, an adult male died a short while later at the scene.

Another patient that was critical was a little boy of about 3 years of age, one of the other female passengers told officials at the scene that the little boy had been travelling with the woman who had died.

The boy was airlifted to Johannesburg Hospital in the Netcare 911 helicopter, the helicopter then returned to the scene to airlift an adult male patient to Pretoria Academic Hospital. He was in a critical condition. It is believed the driver was one of the critically injured. A further 4 were classified as serious and 8 others suffered less severe injuries, they were all transported to Hospital by ambulance.

The scene was attended to by Netcare 911, the provincial fire and EMS and Metro Police.

[ Information provided by Netcare 911 to the Road Safety & Arrive Alive Blog]

NETCARE 911
Emergency No. 082 911

Be careful before blaming someone of causing an accident!!

I was amazed to read the contents of a story on the news earlier today titled “Police detectives blame Isidingo star for accident”. I fear that justice would not be served if this is not scrutinized in more detail and raised this article with a prominent accident investigator for his comments.

I believe that his comments are educational towards a better understanding of both road safety and accident investigation, and would like to share this with the on-line community:

Observations from an accident investigator:

After having received yet another copy of a newspaper article, outlining the “causes” of an accident, I could not remain mute…

Notes from the News Story

The current newspaper article handled specifically the Ashley Callie accident, and - more importantly - the “cause” of the accident.

As I was reading the article, I learned that a Metro Police Accident Investigator had - according to the article - effectively expressed a finding in a criminal matter.

This was (seemingly) done even before the SAPS investigation had started.

I was impressed to observe the attention given to this matter, and the extent to which the investigator/s went. They visited the scene, produced scene drawings, examined vehicles at the scene and even afterwards at scrap yards, and then drew a conclusion.
The conclusion was that Ashley Callie was “in the wrong” in that she was “either on the wrong side of the road, or she turned in the face of oncoming traffic.”

It was added that the driver of the vehicle on the opposite side (Nico Pretorius) was speeding, but the extent could not be determined.

It was also determined (based on smell) that no-one was under the influence of alcohol.

It was added that there was no evidence to suggest why (exactly) Ashley would have been “on the wrong side of the road.”

Questions to be answered:

Having read the article with interest, I compiled the following list of questions, in an effort to lead people to a better understanding of the dynamics of a serious accident event, and to how such a matter should be investigated, in my humble opinion:

a) The “finding” was released before the SAPS investigation had even begun. It is (and remains) the function of the SAPS to investigate crimes. Why is there a public release before conclusion of the investigation and/or a trial?

b) Since there was “no reason” for Ashley to be “on the wrong side of the road,” how was the human factor considered, i.e. her ability to judge the exact position, location, speed, time to impact and forward dynamics of the approaching (read speeding) vehicle?

c) If the other vehicle was “speeding” and Ashley misjudged how long it would take to reach her, how is this “her fault?”

d) There was an investigation to determine if her indicator lamps were “on” at the time of the accident, but reference is only made to those on the front of her vehicle - were all lamps considered, including dash board lamps, head lamps, rear lamps, etc? There was no mention regarding whether or not either vehicle applied brakes at all (affected by PRT), and whether or not either vehicle showed evidence of braking (brake lamp evidence). Neither was mechanical failure (dash-board lamps are essential sources of information, since warning lamps might have been energized).

e) Considering the prevailing dynamics and the speed of the “speeding vehicle,” what if his (undetermined) speed was 150Km/h in a 60Km/h zone? Would the investigator still find that “This young chap (Pretorius) is not to be blamed for this accident?”

f) If we consider the fact that speeds were not calculated, how wrong is whom if Ashley was traveling at (say) 5Km/h and the other can at 100 Km/h (perhaps in a lower speed limit zone)?

g) To what extend were perception reaction times considered and calculated? How much time did Ashley (and the other driver) have to identify the threat (of an accident), process the possible outcomes, consider the best escape and/or prevention plan, execute the motor function required to achieve it, and then for the mechanical process of execution? How long did this take? Did either of them have time to react?

h) In a matter that is still pending in criminal court, and where the matter must still be investigated by the SAPS, who authorized the investigator to release his findings, and plans accompanying his findings, to the media (the public)?

i) If the investigator was independent and unbiased (as any police officer should be) in the matter, why or how was the decision made for him to release his findings before the criminal investigation or the trial had commenced?

j) If the investigator completed his investigation, but lacked certain skills (of any kind), how fair is it to either family for the finding to be released?

k) What medical factors were considered. There was no mention of medical autopsy reports being included in the accident analysis. Everything from diabetes to drug use and even period pains and fainting could have a direct influence on a person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle effectively. The possibility of stroke, heart attack, black-outs and even low or high blood pressure need to also be considered.

In my opinion, this release was premature, lacked all the relevant evidential elements for a conclusion to be reached and excluded the most important element of this kind of accident (human factor).

Interactive dynamics of an accident investigation

If we were to investigate the same matter, the following elements would or should be considered independently, and as a function of the accident event, and all its prevailing and interactive dynamics:

1) Mechanical Factors

It is possible that brakes, foot pedals, gear-choice, steering problems, light failure, shoes worn by drivers, head-lamp on/off status, clutch and many other mechanical elements could have contributed to the accident event. These need to be examined, considered, excluded and/or isolated.

2) Human Factors

Here, many elements apply, including the common factors, like PRT (Perception Reaction Time), but this analysis should include references to conspicuity, expectance, familiarity, cognitive inertia, prior learning patterns, medical conditions, physical skill, driving experience, familiarity with the vehicle being operated, prior knowledge of the road environment, mental state, in-vehicle distractions, cell phone use, and a vast array of other factors.

3) Engineering Factors

The design of the road, visibility, obstructions, road quality (bumps, pot-holes, etc), angle of incidence, traffic patterns, vehicle speeds (time/distance issues), etc.

4) Environmental Factors

These need to include situations inside and outside of the vehicle, and may include, weather, temperature, gases, leaks, ergonomics, vehicle mechanical influences (G-forces), etc.

5) Law Enforcement

There is no reason not to question the reasons why a person is able to speed in a particular area. If law enforcement mechanisms are adequate, and enforcement is common-place, the advent of speeding should reduce. Yet - if there is a permanent speed camera in one location, it is a known fact (in South Africa) that most people would comply with speed limits in the area of the camera, but that they would accelerate immediately after passing the camera. This is a form of speeding contribution, since the knowledge that a camera is in a particular location logically leads to the assumption that it is not in a location directly before and after the permanent camera.

6) Anomalous factors

There are many other factors that could influence driver behavior. Imagine anything from a be stinging a driver in the eye to a meteorite falling onto a vehicle, a tree blowing over in the wind, a bird striking a wind-screen or a scorpion stinging a driver on the leg - all anomalous events that the driver could not reasonably predict. Whether there is allowance in the law for this or not - these are real, possible and even likely events that could influence an accident event.

[The Arrive Alive Road Safety Website and this Blog would like to express our gratitude towards Stan Bezuidenhout for sharing his expertise on this matter and providing us with educational insights!]

A Lion hearty welcome to Southern Africa

A welcome to travelers you will not find anywhere but in Africa! This photo was taken near Skukuza in the South Africa. Travelers might be slightly more alert when they disembark from this plane…

Chairman of Think Bike dies in Motorcycle Accident

It is with sadness that I received an email revealing that Brian Cannoo, the chairman of Think Bike has passed away earlier today!

I was informed with the following message:

“ It is with a sad heart that I must share the news of the passing of Brian Cannoo, head of the Think Bike organization. At 12h33 today he succumbed to injuries received during a motorcycle accident over the weekend in Welkom. Apparently a bus turned in front of him without indicating, while he was attending a track day to train bike riders.
He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
Godspeed”

I went back to my emails on road safety and found the following email I received in 2005 from Brian:

From: Brian Cannoo [mailto:brian@buccaneer.za.net]
Sent: 16 September 2005 23:13
To: jonckie
Subject: Re:Think Bike

Hi Johan

> [ Let me know when you wish to have the link added..]

We’re now live and fully operational - so if you’d place the link, I’d be grateful.

Cheers,
Brian

> Contact Page Information for Arrive Alive
>
> ====================================================
>
> Name: Brian Cannoo
> E-Mail: buccaneer@thinkbike.co.za
>
> Cell: 082 8537503
> Tell: 012 6568070
>
> Address: Box 89938
> Suburb: Heuweloord
> City/Town: Centurion
> Region: Gauteng
> Postal Code:0173
>
> Question :
> Hi
> We are starting a campaign to help educate road users about the
> mistakes that kill motorcyclists. The campaign is called “Think Bike”
> and is run by concerned bikers. Naturally non-profit, this is a
> sincere effort to reduce the carnage on our roads.
>
> As such we would be delighted to receive the endorsement of Arrive
> Alive, and perhaps a link from your website. Our website is not yet
> fully live, but you can see a placeholder at www.thinkbike.co.za and a
> test site at www.thinkbike.co.za/test.
> Thanks for your attention.

Since 2005 Think Bike, under the leadership of Brian has done amazing work in training motorcyclists and in creating awareness of motorcycle safety! The bright reflective clothing of the Think Bike Organization has become a welcome sight on roads across South Africa.

The Arrive Alive Website would like to express our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Brian. May we continue with the road safety efforts of which he was so passionate!!

Are we doing enough to educate about road safety?

The Minister of Education earlier this week revealed plans to equip all teachers in South Africa with laptops! This might be a small step in the direction of addressing the failures of our education system…

Laptops alone will however achieve little. It is important that teachers receive guidance on how to use these mediums to the best benefit of their pupils and their education.

In the development of the Arrive Alive Road Safety Website I have experienced much goodwill amongst road safety enthusiasts. There is a common understanding that knowledge does not rest in the heads of one or 2 individuals - and that sharing knowledge are empowering others towards safe behavior on the roads.

The Arrive Alive Road Safety Website received the following suggestion recently:

“I am from originally from the Netherlands. At primary school all the children had learn about traffic - that meant, learning road signs, behavior and safety. In the last grade we had to do a theory test and a test through town on our bicycle. Would that not be a good idea for South African schools too. I notice too often that children don’t realise the dangers of traffic. The traffic lessons could be incorporated in the live skills at school from grade 1 to grade 12. In grade 11 or 12 all the children could do the learners test.”

A greater emphasis on on-line learning will require that we develop our information portals / websites in such a way that we can maximize the benefits for scholars. The Arrive Alive Road Safety website and this Blog will commit towards this objective and will seek to provide information that will enhance awareness of safety on the road!

Celebrities required at front of road safety campaigns

At this time I would like to express the condolences on behalf of all involved with the Arrive Alive Road Safety Website and this Blog to the family and friends of Ashley Callie. The whole nation has been in shock with the passing away of this beloved TV personality who touched the lives every day of so many.

The public involvement since the news of the accident was first reported has been intense. I joined the group on Facebook wishing Ashley a speedy recovery, but unfortunately this was not to be. On this Road Safely Blog numerous visitors expressed their condolences next to the story of the accident and this provides us with a very important message:

We do love and look up to our celebrities – and they need to be part of any call for action towards road safety!

Only in Hollywood are celebrities fortunate enough to be chauffeured around with bodyguards and motorcades. In South Africa our celebrities face the same dangers than you and me - having to drive on the same roads and sharing the same space with other road users. Only our politicians can sit back in the comfort and safety of motorcades, sirens and the safety of a road being cleared for them…

But why is the message from celebrities so important? Politicians are “under obligation” or “expected” to provide inspirational comments of improving road safety of fighting HIV/ Aids. This is not expected from celebrities – and when they do call us to action – we tend to pay attention!

May the latest road safety campaign with visuals of Bryan Habana and the family of Gift Leremi drive us towards greater safety. May we not only remember and treasure Ashley Callie but may we assist and care for road users around us to be more committed to safe behavior on the roads!