Hitting the road and chasing the kilometres these holidays? Be it 50 or 500 kilometres, day tripping or night tripping, we all want to be at sea, soaking up the sun and building sand castles in the sky. But first, we must reach our destinations safely. Being safe, staying ‘woke’ and being aware on the roads, should be on our energy fuelled minds.
Phillip Kekana, the Puma Energy Road Safety Ambassador, believes “That road safety doesn’t just deserve seasonal attention, but it should be a daily concern, as the average South African spends roughly 43 minutes a day in traffic and drives roughly 163 hours per year. It should make us all experts on the road because we spend so much time driving.”
Yet, in December 2018, there was a 16% increase in road fatalities. Isn’t about time we focus on road safety instead of becoming another statistic? Road safety is a national crisis. Puma Energy and Phillip Kekana hope to educate the nation to reduce the figures and save more lives. The #BeRoadSafe challenge encourages South Africans to share their safies to show what has happened to them, what they are doing to change bad driving behaviour and point out the areas that are dangerous to rally up support and actively fix our communities road safety issues.
“I am calling on all South Africans to pledge to become a #BeRoadSafe hero. I want them to speak up and share their ideas so together we can make our roads safe again for the kids. We need the kids to lead and remind their Mommy’s and Daddy’s to put down their phones and drive safely without distractions,” exclaims, Phillip Kekana.
The Puma Energy #BeRoadSafe Safie challenge hopes to lower road traffic incidents and inspire the next generation of road safety heroes. To help road users become even more road safe, Phillip Kekana recommends these #BeRoadSafe tips that you can pass onto our future leaders and new drivers:
Road Safety is simple as A, B, C. Always Be Careful! Use one of the best safety tools you have, your voice. Speak up when you see something dangerous in the road or feel unsafe in the car.
Protect our kids, drive carefully. Buckle up before you start your journey. Seat belts save about 15,000 lives a year.
You snooze, you lose. Driving drowsy isn’t worth the risk. Take rests on long journeys. Stop at least every two hours while driving long distances. This will give you time to go to the bathroom and stretch your legs before you hit the road again.
Stay alert; there are distracted drivers all around you. If the driver is using their cellphone while driving remind them that it slows reaction time by 37%. Plus, distracted driving is the main cause of accidents around the world.
Never take selfies while driving. Taking a selfie while driving could distract a driver for up to 14 seconds, that’s the length of 5 soccer fields.
Know the rules of the road and your road signals. Green: means “Go.” Red: means “Stop.” Amber: means “Slow Down.”
Always walk on the sidewalks or the pathways along the road. Try to use a bridge instead of crossing highways.
Lead by example and be the change on our public roads. Phillip challenges all road users to become a #BeRoadSafe Hero in their community. Remember to share your Safies with the #BeRoadSafe hashtag so Phillip can spot you!
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Puma Energy in Africa:
Puma Energy has grown to become one of the largest independent storage and downstream companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Group is now present in 19 countries in Africa from Senegal to South Africa and continues to expand its footprint from West to East. Puma Energy has invested close to US$2 billion in Africa and over the last two years added 373k m3 of storage capacity to the 1.2million m3 it already had in the region. The Group has a network of 840 retail sites and storage capacity of 1.6million m3 on the continent.
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Puma Energy in South Africa:
Puma Energy started its operations in South Africa in 2015, with the acquisitions of Brent Oil and Drakensberg Oil. These acquisitions have led to a significant expansion of our operations in South Africa and we continue to invest in the market to grow our retail network and our storage capacity. Our regional hub in Johannesburg, accommodates our supply and trading teams, our fuels and lubricants department, as well as our aviation team who supplies 47 airports across Africa with Aviation fuels. We currently operate a network of 160 retail sites, as well as two terminals with a total storage capacity of 49 000m3. Market growth over the past two years has been slow at only 1–2% but with annual consumption at around 28 million m3 of fuel, there is significant potential for further growth for our business in South Africa.
Key market statistics for South Africa:
· Storage capacity: 49 000 m³
· Retails sites: 165
· Airports: 15
For further information visit: www.pumaenergy.com