Rodereg is a non-profit organisation that was established in 2011 to deal through effective road safety training with the high number of unnatural deaths and injuries happening every day in the roads .
The programme was found by four people who provide road-safety and road-safety awareness campaigns.
Rodereg chairman Kenneth Maluleke said South Africa is losing about 40 lives on the roads everyday and also approximately 14 000 people lose their lives yearly.
“Pedestrians are not immune – they contribute about 40 percent of total number of victims dying on the roads,” he said.
Maluleke said the leading causes of pedestrians deaths are walking on the road while drunk or while under substances abuse, using cellphones while crossing the road or walking along the road, failure to pay attention to approaching vehicles, crossing the road in prohibited areas such as freeways, crossing the road in undesignated pedestrian crossing areas and failure to wear visible clothes at night.
“Lack of profound and empowering road safety education and lack of road safety awareness campaigns are among the causes of road accidents.
“Our aim is to collaborate with the department of transport to reduce road deaths by 80 percent within seven years from the date of officially launching the organisation, to become the best road safety organisation in the world in providing the best empowering road safety training and profound road safety awareness campaigns throughout the country,” he said.
Rodereg deputy chairperson Precious Ndaba said for learners, driver training will be based on behaviour on the roads, this includes responsibility, cautiousness and sleflessness.
“Another lessons will be on pedestrian identification, which includes symptoms for distressed pedestrians and symptoms for drunken pedestrians,” she said.
Ndaba said all these lessons are based on how watch pedestrian behaviour.
“The last lessons is to be on the lookout for symptoms of distressed drivers and drunk drivers.
“There will also be a road safety awareness programme on television which will be focusing on interviewing the victims of road accidents or people left behind by the victims of road accident.
“Radio road safety awareness programmes will also be hosted by a road safety coach, this will allow people without televisions to access road safety awareness programmes and get empowering road safety lessons in order to reduce road deaths,” she said.
Maluleke said South Africa does not have road safety awareness campaigns for 24hour, seven days a week. This could play a part in causing more accidents on the road due to lack of safety information for road users.
“Rodereg is bringing out road safety stickers that will carry encouragement, discouragement and personal road safety messages.
“The road safety stickers will be pasted in the back of the vehicles for other drivers to be able to read.
“The stickers will serve as the means to convey road safety massages every day to motorists to try to reduce road accidents.
“The road safety massages will have a significant impact in changing the attitude of drivers and help reduce road carnage,” he said.
