Special caution required near road construction zones

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The development team of the Arrive Alive website has decided to give more attention to safety guidelines at construction zones and roadwork. Thousands of people are killed when traffic has to pass through road construction or maintenance works every year. The numbers of construction zone injuries and fatalities are predicted to climb even higher.

We have tried to address these dangers by focusing on aspects such as “Management of the Construction Zone”, safe driving requirements as well as safety guidelines for workers in this area.

We would like to quote some of these guidelines:

“Management guidelines of construction zones are very comprehensive – we would however like to focus on a few examples of how effective management can limit the risk of accidental road accidents:

• Signs must be kept clean and well maintained if they are to be effective.
• Press and radio releases are often a valuable means of warning drivers of what to expect at a site, thus minimising impatient and dangerous behaviour. [This is also good PR!]
• Workers who control traffic must be properly trained.
• Traffic controllers must know where to stand, how to slow or stop traffic, and how to coordinate public and construction traffic movements.
• Controllers should use two-way radio communication when visual contact between traffic controllers is not possible. Where the site is suitable and they are available, arrangements should be made to use temporary traffic signals to control traffic.
• Traffic controllers and general road workers should wear suitable conspicuous clothing to ensure that they can be seen by motorists
• Unnecessary traffic control signs or road markings must be removed as they tend to confuse motorists and make them careless.
• Where vehicles are held up in queues, a worker might be appointed to talk with motorists, apologise for delays, estimate the length of the delay, and generally keep people informed.
• Speed limits should be consistent with safe site operations and traffic movements.
• Compliance with reasonable speed limits will then be more likely – If motorists perceive a speed limit to be unrealistic, they are likely to disregard it.
• Etc”

We would like to urge all visitors to view the Arrive Alive website for more info on:

• Road Safety near Construction Zones / Road Works

Risk of Rapid transit system missing World Cup bus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cape Town’s biggest bus operator Golden Arrow says the city might not be able to deliver the integrated rapid transit (IRT) system before the World Cup.

John Dammert, Golden Arrow’s corporate development manager, told the Cape Argus on Wednesday that he was sceptical of the city meeting its IRT deadlines for the soccer showpiece.

City of Cape Town?s Media Manager, Kylie Hatton, tells us more about the IRT system.

He said the city’s IRT timelines were “extremely tight” given the massive infrastructural and organisational work that still needed to be done.

“The IRT will be a long-term workable solution to the public transport problems in Cape Town, but whether or not the system will be ready for the World Cup, I don’t think so,” said Dammert.

“With a year to go, negotiations of who will run the system have only started and it will still take a while for a suitable entity to be found.”

Dammert said Golden Arrow was still unclear of its role in the IRT network, but added that negotiations with the city were ongoing.

Asked whether Golden Arrow had plans to transport visitors in 2010 if the system was not ready, Dammert said the company had recently bought 25 new low-floor, air-conditioned European-styled buses that were being used in the inner-city precinct.

“We think together with our existing bus schedule, the new fleet will be able to support the need of visitors to Cape Town.”

On a recent media tour of the IRT construction sites in Cape Town, city media manager Kylie Hatton said they were negotiating with industry roleplayers and that phase 1A of the IRT, from Table View into the city, would be rolled out from March next year, three months ahead of the World Cup kick-off.

On Wednesday she said the city continued to engage Golden Arrow about the implementation of the IRT.

“Transport services will be in place for the World Cup,” said Hatton.

“Portions of this World Cup service will be covered by the IRT. Other operators may be required to supplement this core service. We are in continued discussion with the existing public transport industry.”

Meanwhile, Fifa says it is monitoring the transport situation, which it acknowledged is one of the challenging elements of 2010 planning.

Spokesperson Delia Fischer said Fifa was confident the South African government, and host cities, would stage a successful World Cup – supported by a functional transport system.

[This article by Clayton Barnes was originally published on page 8 of The Cape Argus on May 21, 2009]

Visit the Arrive Alive website for more info on:

• Bus Rapid Transit System and Road Safety
• Spectator Survival Guide to Safety on the Road to Sports Stadiums

Friend of Lance Armstrong dies in motorbike accident

 

 

 

 

Italy – A tragic accident that claimed the life of a motorcyclist has overshadowed the start of Tuesday’s tenth stage at the Giro d’Italia.

Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Fabio Saccani, who was working as a motorcyclist for a photographer at the Giro, died after crashing into a car as he was driving towards the start of Tuesday’s stage.

The photographer, who is a good friend of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, was participating in his 32nd Giro.

Drivers are to honour him with a minute of silence at the start of Wednesday’s 11th stage.

[ Story appeared on Sport24.com]

Also view the Road Safety Blog and the Arrive Alive website for road safety information.

New Road Safety Blog launched

 

 

 

 

 

The Road Safety & Arrive Alive Blog would like to announce the launch of a new Road Safety Blog at the domain http://www.roadsafety.co.za. For the past 6 years we have been committed to road safety via the Arrive Alive road safety website at www.arrivealive.co.za, complimented through the Road Safety & Arrive Alive Blog.

The Road Safety & Arrive Alive Blog was launched on the 28th of February 2007 and we were very successful in stimulating public interaction and debate through this Blog. Since the launch we posted more than 850 blog posts and there have been in excess of 150,000 blog views.

These Blog posts have complimented the Arrive Alive road safety website and allowed us to provide additional commentary to the content on the website. We have also gained a regular following and these visitors have shared their concerns and alerted us to aspects that they believe are in need of further attention!

Why a need for another Blog?

We believe that there have been significant changes in social mediums the past 2 years and WordPress has made it possible to do so much more with many new features and plugins on our roadsafety.co.za domain.

We believe that road safety will only benefit through the development of the new blog and we will be able to create further awareness in a strategy that combines different blogs, mobile websites, Facebook groups under one objective – to provide information that will allow visitors to be safer road users!!

Visit the Road Safety Blog at www.roadsafety.co.za

Teenager girls assaulted, social worker bitten as robbers target orphanage

At approximately 18h36 on Thursday night 07 May 2009, Netcare 911 paramedics responded to reports of an armed robbery at an orphanage close to the corners of Martha and Rabie roads in Fontainebleau, Randburg.

Paramedics, police and private security companies all responded to the incident and found that a gang of armed men had forced their way into the home before attacking three of the occupants. A 15 year old girl was slapped in the face and pushed against a wall while another was pistol whipped- she had been hit on the top of her head with a firearm. The female social worker had been bitten on her left hand. Thankfully all of their victims were in a stable condition, however the 17 year old who had been pistol whipped was transported privately to the Netcare Olivedale hospital for cleansing of her bloody wound and further assessment.

It was alleged that several cell phones and other personal possessions were stolen before the gang fled on foot.
There was a strong police presence at the scene and several vehicles checked the surrounding areas for the suspects who appear to have escaped.

This incident was attended to by Netcare 911, SAPS, Metro Police and private security companies.

Nick Dollman.
mobilemedia
Netcare 911

6 year old school girl run over in KZN

 

 

 

 

This morning Netcare 911 rushed to the scene of a very tragic accident on the R102 near Mount Moria in the Duffs road area. When Paramedics arrived they were faced with a very horrific sight. A 6 year old school girl in her uniform was hit by a car while she was crossing the road , she was critically injured and paramedics worked frantically to stabilise the little child. After placing her on a ventilator and immobilising her onto a special stretcher, she was airlifted to the Albert Luthuli hospital for further treatment .

Chris Botha
Netcare Limited

Do bikers care for the safety of runners?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arrive Alive website received an email from a concerned runner/ jogger complaining about the attitude of some bikers. The email was worded as follows:

“I was always under the impression that the guys from THINK BIKE are law obeying citizen. And in conjunction with arrive alive making the roads a safer place.

But I was told by a friend who is a runner (same as me) to go onto the THINK BIKE forum. Only to read the SHOCKING replies from the THINK BIKE MEMBERS.

Replies like

1. “Roads are made for Bikes and Cars not morons on tekkies!”
2. “Runners/Joggers are classified as pedestrians. Pedestrians have NO place on our roads. Roads are meant for vehicles.”

This is really a concern if this is the attitude these guys have towards other road users.

How can they say they are a campaign that geared towards road safety?”

Well aware of the great work done by the guys at Think Bike, I decided to share this message with them and give them the opportunity to respond. I believe that it is very important to share the response:

“Dear Johan

Thank you for bringing Mr. H…’s concern to our attention.

Having read through the thread Mr. H… quoted from, we have found that a variety of opinions, both in favour of and against runners, have been expressed. Mr. H… chose to quote only two of the 52 responses to the initial post, and to ignore the fact that there are several responses in defense of pedestrians and joggers/runners being on the road. In doing so he created a skewed impression of the prevailing attitude, not only in that thread, but on the Think Bike Forum in general. For reasons best known only to him, Mr. H… appears to have concluded that Think Bike is intolerant towards other road users, and selectively quoted only those responses that support his point.

By way of illustration, herewith some of the responses (from the same thread) in defense of pedestrians and joggers/runners on the road:

“…you are missing something – it is called freedom of choice.”

“Have you ever tried to jog on sand, grass or gravel? You’ll think twice about even suggesting it…”

“Roads are for PUBLIC use – taxis, buses, cars, bikes, scooters, bicycles AND pedestrians. “

“…everyone is entitled to use the roads.”

“If you are travelling the speed limit you shouldn’t have any problem with us runners. “

“In SA a pedestrian may use the road (keeping to the edge) if there is no pavement.”
Think Bike espouses the principle of freedom of expression on its forum, and as a result opinions are sometimes expressed which some people may not agree with. However, it is the campaign’s stated policy that the opinions expressed on the forum do not necessarily reflect Think Bike’s formal policies, goals and objectives. It is regrettable that Mr. H…, for whatever reasons, feels the need to malign an institution that encourages tolerance towards all road users by misrepresenting the sentiment of the relevant thread.

We would welcome a discussion of the subject with Mr. H… (and any of your other readers), which would allow us the opportunity to clarify what misconceptions may exist.”

Visit the Arrive Alive website and Think Bike for more information about motorbike safety and running/ jogging safely.

Family injured on Umlaas road in KZN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This afternoon Netcare 911 in Pietermaritzburg rushed to the scene of an horrific accident on the N3 near Umlaas Rd. A family on the way back to Gauteng lost control of their vehicle and rolled down an embankment. The mother, father and a 6 month little girl had sustained serious injuries and was transported to a hospital in Pietermaritzburg for treatment. A 3 year old boy had sustained critical injuries and had to be airlifted to a hospital in Durban for further treatment.

Chris Botha
Durban Media
Netcare Limited

Second possible electrical fire at Sandton Convention Centre in two weeks

 

 

 

 

 

At approximately 17h00 on Saturday afternoon 02 May 2009, Netcare 911 paramedics responded to reports of a fire on the roof of the well known Convention Centre in the heart of Sandton, in Johannesburgs northern suburbs. Our dispatch centre also alerted the Johannesburg Emergency Services of the incident.

A Netcare 911 ambulance was first to arrive at the scene and one of the crew members, an experienced ex-fire fighter, was taken to the roof by the security guards. The security guard alleged that he had seen a fire which he had extinguished with a portable fire extinguisher. Paramedics did not see any active fire and were told that the incident occurred at the DB board in the lift room for the service elevator. Fire fighters from the Sandton fire department arrived shortly afterwards and checked for fire extension. The electricity supply to the lift room was shut off as a precaution and an electrician was called to the scene.

This was a minor incident and nobody was injured and although the Convention Centre was in use for a show at the time of the incident there was no need for an evacuation. This incident was attended to by Netcare 911 and the local fire department.

Previously, on Saturday 19th April 2009, emergency services responded to reports of a fire following an evening function and although all the guests had departed all the staff who were still working had evacuated and had gathered outside the building. They described a strong burning plastic smell and suspected a possible electrical fire. The fire department arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and assessed the building and checked the roof in the vicinity of the suspected origin. As a safety precaution the electricity supply to that part of the building was disconnected and centre management was advised to call in an electrician to assess and repair the damage.

Between 20 and 30 staff members evacuated the building and only the supervisor complained of a mild cough as a result of the smoke. He was in a very stable condition and refused the hospital transportation that was offered to him by the medical team. Fire fighters and paramedics remained on the scene while the incident was investigated.

Nick Dollman

mobilemedia

Netcare 911

Shopper and guard shot during mall robbery in Springs

 

 

 

 

At approximately 11h54 on Sunday 03 May 2009, Netcare 911 paramedics responded to reports of a shooting following an armed robbery at a store at a the mall on 7th street in the CBD of Springs, east of Johannesburg.

Paramedics attended to three injured people at the scene. The first victim was an adult male who had been shot in the abdomen, he was in a serious condition and was attended to by an advanced life support paramedic and analgesic medication was administered to reduce his pain. It is believed that he was a customer who was shopping at the mall and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when the robbers started to shoot.

The second victim was a security guard, he had been shot in his left lower leg. He too was attended to by an advanced life support paramedic and he was in a stable condition. Both victims were transported by ambulances from Netcare 911 and the provincial ambulance service to the Springs private hospital for further treatment.

The third injured man was believed to be a suspect who was apprehended at the scene, he had sustained minor injuries and was arrested by the police and was not transported by ambulance to hospital.

This incident was attended to by paramedics from the private and provincial ambulance services, security and police services.

Nick Dollman
mobilemedia
Netcare 911