WHAT IS SADD?
SOUTH AFRICANS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING is an NPO organization – Reg. No 055-255.
It was founded by the Alcohol & Drug Educator & Counsellor, & Psychiatric Social Worker, Caro Smit, after her 23year old son, Chas, was killed in September 2005, by a driver who had been drinking.
SADD is not about anger and revenge – it is about the future, bringing down deaths and injuries, & saving families distress & heartache. It could also be called S.A.Against Dangerous Driving/Destructive Decisions – as we deal with Seatbelt Use, Speeding & Youth & others drinking too much alcohol & driving dangerously.
SADD is about supporting victims & their families after drink driving crashes, & offering pamphlets & advice for court.
SADD is part of the “Decade of Action for Road Safety”, ‘MAKE ROADS SAFE,” & the International W.H.O NPO: “Global Alliance of NGO’s “Advocating for Road Safety & Road Victims. “World Day of Remembrance of crash victims celebrated annually.
AWARD.
2012 SADD received a Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Award for the University Project.
2006, in recognition of her efforts, Caro won South Africa’s premier recognition of road safety initiatives, the Evert van Niekerk C.A.R.S. “Road Safety Achievement of the Year Award”, beating OutSurance.
OBJECTIVE
The main objective of SADD is to create awareness of the Drinking then Driving problem in South Africa & to try to combat the use of alcohol & drugs by road users by working with the authorities to enforce the laws governing this abuse more strictly, & to educate the public about alcohol, & drinking & driving/walking. SADD calls for Drink Drivers to have mandatory Licenses suspension, have Alcohol Ignition Interlocks fitted to their vehicles & to get alcohol education &/or treatment, as well as getting jail sentences for those who kill or severely injure. All Taxi, heavy trucks & Buses should have Alcolocks fitted. SADD has put convicted Drink Drivers names in Newspapers in PMB since 2006, worked with KZN DoT in 2011 & advised the Western Cape’s DoT how to roll out the program, until it was stopped by Dept. of Justice in 2011.
SADD is Project based, using Best Practice Models as per the World Health Organization & GRSP’s Manuals.
SADD is doing work all the time, rather than just talking & attending Meetings. This is to reach the whole of South Africa especially though the website. SAB/SADD’s 2008/09/10/11/12/13 University Drinking Project is teaching about alcohol abuse & drinking then driving in 10 SA Universities. SADD’s 2011 two Lotto funded Projects got “Alcohol, Drink Driving & Road Safety” Manuals into 1,680 KZN & 450 WC Schools as well as training the staff to use them; & trained Taxi Managers in 20 districts in the Taxi Driver Road Safety Project in KZN (including Manuals & DVD’s & pamphlets for drivers/owners.) 2014 plans are: complete Seatbelt/drink driving project in PMB/SA – getting 2000 manuals & DVD out; developing Manuals/posters for Clinics & Hospitals; working on practical programs for convicted Drink Drivers throughout SA; training Counsellors to run Offender programs. Name & Shame has been approved by DoT and DoJ to be rolled out nationally, & SADD will monitor & advise about the implementation of this project. MADD victims support booklets being updated, and made appropriate for SA.
REASON
Every year in South Africa, about 18 000 people are killed & 150 000 injured in car crashes. 65% of these are caused by alcohol, this percentage being actually twice the world average. Many of these victims are under the age of 30.This figure is predicted to rise by 80% by 2020. Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and runners are especially at risk.
The main problem is that the implementation of the South African drinking &driving laws are terribly forgiving. SA laws are amongst the best in the world. The South African Road Traffic Act allows a 9 year sentence for drink driving, mandatory suspension of licenses, & a R180 000 fine. However the reality is very different, & tough a & prohibitive sentences are not given. Only 7% of those tested get sentenced. At present most of the major role players in South African Road Safety are not effective enough. This includes the Government Departments such as Justice, the traffic authorities & the road users themselves. We have been described as a nation who has no commitment to being responsible for our actions on the roads. Until the laws are properly enforced, South Africans will still think it is acceptable to drink then drive, to not wear seatbelts, to speed, etc.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
We cannot & don’t have to wait for Government to act. As citizens we can make a difference by not committing crime on the road, by educating the public about the danger of drink driving & that a Road Traffic Incident involving a drink driver is not an accident, it is a choice. BECOME A MEMBER & join SADD (Go to Website – “Join SADD”) Help us, work with us, represent us in your area. There are already some tools in place i.e. breathalyzers, Buddy Buses, Goodfellas, Roadtrip, but access to these tools needs to be made known & easier. We can & must educate South Africans about DES’s – designated drivers- about “Units of Alcohol” & social responsibility, the slow elimination rates of alcohol, & the importance of being a role model.
Drink driving is out of hand in this country & somebody needs to make a difference & SADD is prepared to try & do just that.
To see more about SADD, its projects, & its objectives & the work it is doing visit the website www.sadd.org.za .
HOW?
As there is no government funding for SADD, we need to use other means to communicate to the ordinary South African the dangers
of drink driving & to do this we need money. SADD is a Section 21 Company Reg.: 2006/024402/08, NPO No. 055/255, & PBO No.: 9300023011.Promote AlcoFreeFeb™ www.alcofreefeb.co.za or Sideburn September www.sideburnseptember.co.za .
Donations are Tax Deductible. No donation is too big or too small.
Acct. details: SADD. NedBank. Branch Code: 13 40 25. Acct.1340 547 287
WHY? Drink Driving is a CRIME, & we need to fight crime in SA.
The statistics show that innocent people die needlessly every day as a result of drink driving/walking.
We have the right to be safe on the roads, & not be killed /injured by Drink Drivers. Who knows who the next victim will be? It could be someone we don’t know, someone we know, someone in our close network of friends, someone in our family. It could even be you! Drink Driving is a crime as serious as murder. It is very preventable. HELP US PLEASE!
Contacts: E Mail: carosmit@sadd.org.za Cell: 082 82 136 73 Tel: 033 3470103. Fax: 086 517 1363.
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