Strategic Imperatives for road safety strategies

Pedestrian visibility campaigns
Education of school children
Reduction of speed limits in areas of heavy pedestrian activity
Enforcement of no-pedestrian laws on freeways
Advertising – radio campaigns on community radio – visibility
Engineering solutions e.g. bridges, sidewalks and traffic calming
Enforcement activities for pedestrians
Revision of drink-walking laws
Limit vehicles carrying passengers on load areas to 80 kph, and eventually prevent this type of transport altogether.

Nearly half of the deaths that occur on South African roads are of pedestrians. This is true for other developing countries, where the percentage of pedestrian deaths is from 65-90%. There are several challenges that affect projects in this area.

Many roads are not designed for pedestrian usage, with features such as side-walks and pedestrian crossings and/or fences are often non-existent.
High levels of alcohol abuse result in drunk people walking on the roads. 70% of adult pedestrians who are killed on our roads are drunk.
Lack of visibility of pedestrians is an issue, and several projects are being introduced to address this problem, including the use of retro-reflective material on school uniforms being introduced in 2006.
Due to a lack of public transport in some areas, people walk for long distances to reach buses or taxis.
Informal, unplanned housing and even formal suburbs are often separated from schools, shops, clinics or places of recreation by highways.
We are one of the few countries in the world where first class roads run across “third world” settlements.

Vehicle speed in areas of high pedestrian activity (schools, intersections, outside shebeens etc) should be reduced to 30 kph. “At impact speeds over 30 kmh, pedestrians and cyclists risk sustaining life-threatening injuries. At 60 kph, death is virtually certain.”