It is after all common knowledge that unroadworthy vehicles – especially when it comes to damaged tyres, faulty steering systems or brakes – are the cause of numerous accidents.
Unroadworthy vehicles remains death traps, which have been highlighted by road accidents that have made headline news, most noticeable the September 2013 tragedy in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, when a driver lost control of a truck that was allegedly unroadworthy and killed 24 people.
This problem is exacerbated by vehicles travelling at high speeds or by drivers who, for whatever reason (such as a lack of sleep or even lack of driving skills), is unable to properly control the vehicle at times of an emergency.
The other day I got stuck behind a bakkie that was doing its best to infuriate the environment as smoke poured from its exhaust pipe; the driver was also valiantly trying to exceed the 40km/h speed mark as the vehicle shuddered and stuttered along.
I am no mechanic, but it is rather obvious that there is something dreadfully wrong with the vehicle and that it should not be allowed on the roads.
And then the thought occurred, how is it possible for this vehicle to be on the road? After all, surely an EMPD officer should have noticed this catastrophe of a moving violation.
Ever noticed how many trucks and buses simply break down? Is this simply sudden mechanical failure, or lack of proper maintenance and service?
It reminds of our government’s infrastructure that is constantly packing up because of a lack of proper attention. All vehicles need constant monitoring.
What I find most worrying is the numerous (and there are plenty of them!) oil stains covering the public parking lots. You don’t need to be a mechanic to know a lot of vehicles are leaking oil, which is not a good sign when it comes to roadworthiness.
Yet, these vehicles that leak constant oil, water and smoke, merrily go along its way, hardly ever catching the eye of law enforcement. At roadblocks, only the conditions of tyres are check, never the brakes or the condition of the engine.
Makes you wonder how safe our roads really are, and then we are not even talking about the scary driving ability of many motorists, the blatant violation of traffic rules, the constant need for speed or the ignorance shown towards being intoxicated.
The question that begs to be answered is where does the onus lie to ensure road safety?
Naturally, the owner of the vehicle should firstly be responsible, but secondly, if a driver uses a fleet vehicle, then the driver should also be equipped and trained to somehow assess if something is wrong.
But road safety should be enforced, which brings us back to the metro police who patrol our highways and bi-ways. It is understandable that the EMPD cannot check every vehicle, but sometimes it is quite obvious that the smoking machine on the road could be a potential danger.
In South Africa, vehicles carrying passengers for reward (taxis) are required to be tested annually, and buses every six months, while trucks with a Gross Vehicle Mass of more than 3 500kg are required to be tested annually.
How then is it possible for unroadworthy trucks, buses and taxis, to still crawl like menacing beasts on our roads if they are tested regularly?
Garth Johnson, CEO of Dekra Automotive, a roadworthy testing and vehicle inspection company, has highlighted corruption at the point of vehicle inspection, where illegal or unreliable roadworthy certificates are issued, as a concern.
Corruption it seems allows for unroadworthy vehicles to travel our roads, contributing significantly to vehicular accidents, injury and death, just because someone wants to make a quick buck.
Corruption once again manages to deal a cruel blow to the safety of the country’s citizens.
Last year, the National Road Safety Summit was held, organised by the Department of Transport. The two-day Imbizo was an inclusive call for all role-players to identify tangible and measurable solutions to make both South Africa’s roads, and its road users, safer.
It was held in line with the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 campaign, whose objective is to reduce road fatalities by half by the end of the current decade.
Even though the Transport minister, Dipuo Peters hailed the summit as a resounding success, is this then the case a year later, keeping in mind the numerous accidents on the roads, including the Alberton disaster?
A call was made, among many other initiatives, during the Summit for systems to be put in place to expedite the phased implementation of periodic vehicle testing and review the vehicle testing environment and capacity in its entirety –including monitoring of compliance and combating fraud and corruption.
While buses, taxis and trucks are tested regularly, the problem pertains to vehicles – a roadworthy test is only conducted when there is a change of ownership. This means the driver could be using his vehicle for decades without having to test the vehicle again.
While the idea of periodic vehicle testing when it comes to cars could be quite cumbersome, surely this is something that the government needs to look at.
But then again, if trucks and buses are regularly checked but are travelling coffins, will periodic vehicle testing offer a viable solution?
Corruption, which is a like a cancer to SA’s growth and stability, also definitely needs to be addressed to ensure all unroadworthy vehicles are no longer on our roads.
This brings us back to the owners of vehicles, who are ultimately the first line of defense to ensure safety on the road.
All owners should consider that to drive a vehicle that is not roadworthy, is against the law. Therefore, the number of unroadworthy vehicles on our roads is sadly indicative of our times of lawlessness and recklessness.
Owners after all shouldn’t only take their vehicles for a test, because it is a legal requirements, but also because they care about road safety.
Owners, thus, need to consider if it is really worth keeping a vehicle on the road by any means possible, for whatever reason, or shouldn’t some sense of common decency and respect for life prevail above all else?
