Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire (Bakwena) supports initiatives by Minister of Transport, Blade Nzimande, and his department aimed at reducing the amount of accidents and increasing the welfare of all users of South Africa’s roads.
Echoing the Minister’s sentiments about road fatalities, Bakwena commercial manager, Liam Clarke, said the toll road concessionaire is deeply saddened by the loss of lives on the roads over the Easter period.
“We put several measures into place with a view to reducing major incidences, including a Control of Speed by Illusion (COSBI) campaign, which urged motorists to drive more carefully throughout the Easter period.”
The campaign involved the placement of life-size cardboard cut-outs of a police car, motorcycle and traffic policeman along the N1N4 as decoys. These cut-outs were complimented with additional thought provoking road signage to encourage safer driving behaviour.
Bakwena also partnered with Imperial Road Safety and Hyundai SA for six additional patrol vehicles aimed at assisting with more visible policing and crash assistance, as well as to help road users who found themselves in difficult situations along the N1N4 route. These six vehicles covered 23 061 kilometres over this period.
The Minister, reflecting on the preliminary Easter safety report, said 510 people died on South Africa’s roads, which was a 14% increase on last year’s figures of 449.
“At Bakwena, we believe one fatality on our roads is one too many. As a result, we will continue to support initiatives by the Department of Transport aimed at reducing fatalities on the roads and play an active part in making South African roads safer for all who use them,” concludes Clarke.