Cape Town - Transport and Public Works MEC Daylin Mitchell unveiled the province’s annual traffic safety plan for the peak festive season, themed “Caution Habitual Offenders”.
The launch of the anticipated traffic safety initiative coincided with the graduation of 87 provincial traffic officials who, according to the transport directorate, will play a vital role in its integral festive safety plan.
Speaking at the event held at the Gene Louw Traffic College in Brackenfell, Mitchell said that despite the challenges law enforcement officials had faced during the year due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Traffic Department would continue to provide structured traffic law enforcement and road safety interventions to influence all road users positively this festive season.
“Our primary focus this festive season remains the maintenance and the regulation of safe and responsible road user behaviour, supported by our integrated provincial interventions.
“Our tactical and operational plan has been aligned to the National 365 Road Safety Calendar.
“Extensive use of all our available data and information sources played a critical role when we compiled our detailed and approved integrated tactical planning for this festive season, which we divided into a three-phase approach,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell also touched on the Transport Department’s initiative to incorporate inter-provincial operations, fatigue management operations, a pedestrian programme, and a habitual offenders initiative.
“Our current in-vehicle technology and Asod (average speed over distance) sites technology enabled us to determine the extent of our top 500 habitual offenders that use our road network.
“These include Avanza longdistance travelling, unlicensed motor vehicles and Asod speeding offences.
“Our officers were briefed about this initiative to ensure that they react appropriately when they stop and approach any of these 500 vehicles/ drivers identified as habitual offenders.”
Subsequent to the launch, Mitchell handed over 37 new vehicles fitted with the technology for service in outer regions, and expressed his support for the new UN Decade of Action for 2021 to 2030 for Road Safety, which was handed over to him by alliances of traffic safety initiatives.
Pedestrian safety manager Patrick Muchaka said: “We are ushering in a new Decade of Action, an initiative by the WHO (World Health Organization). It is important that as NGOs we form part of alliances in the SADC region.
“This affords us opportunities to be present at such initiatives, so we are able to sensitise law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders in terms of the way forward.
“We are in support of the issues the MEC touched on in his speech because it speaks to how we can see a reduction in road accident fatalities,” Muchaka said.
