Road safety initiatives are continuing from Transport Month into the month of November. The South African Bus Operators Association (SABOA) Day was hosted to update stakeholders on current and critical issues facing the industry. This week was also the 14th Annual Road Safety Summit in KwaZulu Natal (KZN). The Summit is a two-day event discussing various issues affecting road safety, particularly in KZN.
The CEO Of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says it is encouraging to see conferences and events continue into November after two years of limited campaigns. “We were particularly pleased to be included in both of these events. At the SABOA Day we had the chance to exhibit and interact with industry stakeholders and decision-makers on important issues affecting the industry.”
SABOA Day also addressed the move toward alternative forms of power in the industry. “It is easy to dismiss electrification as too expensive and a pipedream for South Africa but it is clear that electric vehicles will be a part of the near-future and the sooner you prepare, the better equipped you will be.
“It also provided the chance to consider the different forms of alternative energy. It provided an informed picture of alternative energy and widened its scope to be more inclusive. It is certainly something we can look forward to and MasterDrive is already prepared to help with that transition.”
At the Annual Road Safety Summit, MasterDrive had the opportunity to address those involved in road safety in the KwaZulu Natal region as we head into our first festive season with no lockdown restrictions. “We took the opportunity to address a statistic that measures high in festive season road fatalities: vulnerable road users. It provided us with the platform to share knowledge on protecting these road users.”
As we head back toward a festive season that is the closest to what it was in 2019 thus far, let us not return to the high crash rates of that year and those preceding it as well. “As we have gradually been returning to normal, we have also seen the crash and fatality rate return to the devastatingly high numbers that dogged the country for more years than we can count.
“Lockdown also gave us a feel for what it would be like without the high number of road crashes and the effect it has on not only the people and loved ones that are killed but those who are left with permanent disabilities, the effect on organisations and, conversely, on income generators and on the country’s GDP. It gave us a look at a country that is not infamous for road crashes and the changes this could create.”
The first weeks of November have been busy ones. “The conferences and summits have brought road safety and changes that we can anticipate in the future to the forefront of many minds,” says Herbert.
