Outa calls for solutions to end road safety crisis

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) this weekend urged the Department of Transport to engage with civil society to find solutions to the road safety crisis and other transport issues.

In a press statement, Outa says the dire situation of a 40% increase in road fatalities in SA over the Easter period sends a clear signal that government is ineffective and unable to deal with this ongoing problem.

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Andrea van Heerden, Outa’s senior legal project manager said:

We are extremely concerned over the fact that 225 people died on the country’s roads in such a short period, especially since it shows an increase of 40% when compared to the same period last year.
Despite the Department of Transport’s “Decade of Action for Road Safety” programme, running between 2010 and 2020 and aligned with a United Nation’s initiative aimed at improving global road safety and reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50%, the situation in SA continues to worsen with the carnage increasing year on year, said Outa.

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“Furthermore, in recent court hearings, the Department of Transport appears to be hanging its hat on planned Aarto amendments as being the panacea for our road fatality problems. Outa believes the Aarto amendments will not reduce road fatalities, just as it has not done so in the two metros where it has been applied [Joburg and Tshwane] over the past decade,” said Van Heerden.

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Outa said they firmly believe that an adequately funded lead agency, more visible policing and a national strategy with measurable targets to tackle issues of road safety, are long overdue.