Let us share a dream of safe taxi drivers!

Let us share a dream of safe taxi drivers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do most South African road users say about minibus taxi drivers? To the Arrive Alive website comments have been made that these drivers are “lawless, reckless, arrogant and above the law”. Earlier today the road safety website received an email with the following complaint:

“Hi, just wanted to know what could be done about the taxi drivers in our area. A friend of mine almost lost his life when a taxi overtook & smashed into him which where on a double barrier line. I was almost pushed off the road twice yesterday when 2 taxis overtook in a busy intersection. There are many other incidents that I experienced. What can be done? Who can help? These guys are dam wild. I hate to be involved in a accident. Just want to know what can be done to stop this… Thank you for your help”

Fortunately all is not doom and gloom and another email depicted a brighter picture:

“To whom it may concern

I have been quite concerned of late, regarding the horrendous manner in which our Nations Taxi drivers travel, causing death and mayhem where ever they go.

Obviously they speed and drive like maniacs with one thing in mind and that is to make more money..

Yesterday on my trip I encountered something beautiful, it looked like a taxi, but it never acted like the normal taxi. This dear gentleman drove like a dream, using flickers, waiting for a safe time to enter a line of traffic, saying thank you. it was an absolute pleasure to drive with him, and I pulled him over and told him, to which he thanked me and told me to drive safe…

This brought something to my mind, we all know that you obtain more from positive input than from negative, and we can see that all the traffic rules have done nothing to better the situation. All we, the people, do is scream, shout and swear at them, which does nothing. why don’t we do something to encourage them and reward them with money, which is the whole reason of their appalling driving?

Why don’t we arrange a competition, and call it something like “spot south africa’s safest taxi driver”, whereby we encourage them to show their registration numbers clearly, and get people to call in with registration number of drivers who are doing just that. At the end of each month (it has to be monthly its not too long for them to wait for their reward) the top safest driver will be rewarded with an amount of cash. Surely this will encourage them to drive better, which will save lives, and help them out financially. We will obviously contact numerous companies for sponsorship to make this a success.

We have tried all else…lets try this…

I eagerly await your reply on a positive note”

It gave me great pleasure to inform the sender that there is at present such a national competition made possible through the efforts of Brandhouse and Toyota. Effective traffic enforcement is one of the tools available to remove offending drivers – but there are only so many traffic officers and the legal process is complex. Perhaps this suggestion is exactly the other tool that we need – an initiative to build some pride through recognition to those drivers obeying the law and putting the safety of commuters and road users first!!

This Blog will strive to provide exposure to these positives and recognize the efforts to enhance road safety in the minibus taxi industry!

I share this dream… may our taxi drivers dream the same dream…for the sake of a better and safer South Africa!!

Emergency lane user crashes into Metro Police vehicle

Emergency lane user crashes into Metro Police vehicle

At approximately 08h40 on Monday 25 August 2008, Netcare 911 paramedics responded to reports of a motorbike collision on the N1 direction north between the Malibongwe (R512) and William Nicol (R511) offramps.

According to eye witnesses, who gave statements to the Metro police at the scene, a motorcyclist who was travelling in the shoulder lane of the highway collided with a Metro Police highway patrol vehicle. Luckily the police officers were not injured however the biker sustained serious injuries including a fracture to his pelvis and a fracture to his left wrist. He was stabilised by the paramedics at the scene and was transported by a Netcare 911 ambulance to the Accident and Emergency Unit at the Netcare Olivedale hospital for further treatment.

Awareness:
Paramedics appeal to the public to be diligent and to obey the rules of the road. We hope that motorists will exercise patience while in slow traffic and not to be tempted to utilise the emergency lane as their own quick fix to the traffic delay. Paramedics are frequently delayed by selfish motorists who use and block the shoulder lane which is reserved for the use of emergency vehicles. Multiple delays in rush hour traffic can unnecessarily delay the time it takes for paramedics to get to an emergency scene, for example; in a drowning situation, time is precious- permanent brain damage or death can occur after four minutes. Therefore delays in response times are literally a matter of life and death. The use of the shoulder lane can be dangerous as civilian vehicles are not fitted with emergency warning lights and sirens and therefore other motorists may not expect them to be there.

Today’s emergency scene was attended to by paramedics from the private and provincial ambulance services, fire department and the Metro Police.

NETCARE 911
Emergency No. 082 911

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

Update: 209 Gauteng crashes this weekend

Update: 209 Gauteng crashes this weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the past 72 hours, from 8am on Friday 22 August 2008 until 8am Monday 25 August 2008, the Netcare 911 call centre has dispatched emergency vehicles to 209 collisions throughout Gauteng.

• In the Johannesburg area there were 124 vehicle and 29 pedestrian collisions.
• In the Pretoria area there were 39 vehicle and 7 pedestrian collisions.
• In the Vaal area there were 9 vehicle and 1 pedestrian collision/s.