Campaign for safer South African roads - “Drive Safely, Live Longer”

Each year, almost 14,000 lives are lost and 150,000 people injured in South Africa from traffic related accidents. South Africa's road traffic mortality rate of 40 per 100 000 is estimated to be 26% higher than the Africa at large and nearly double the global rate. Driving safely, therefore, is not only a legal requirement – it is a responsibility to fellow citizens to ensure everyone can live long and healthy lives.

African Licence's "Drive Safely, Live Longer" campaign has been launched to help improve this poor track record. With graphics and numbers, the campaign, available at http://www.africanlicence.com/insights  educates students and drivers with graphics and numbers on why accidents are such a big issue, what the main causes are, and what each person in South Africa can do to be a safer road user.

Unfortunately things are not getting better. South Africa's progress against its targets to reduce fatalities is abysmal. While there has been a small improvement, the last two years road fatalities have been on the increase and the gap between South Africa's 2015 traffic fatality target and actual road fatalities is growing.

So what can be done? Alcohol plays a big role (linked to nearly half of the road fatalities in South Africa) and so does excessive speed (reported to account for 30-50% of traffic related accidents).

The answer lies in education on several levels.

• Government: Better and more government campaigning to explain the dangers of alcohol and excessive speeding, and the limited benefits of either
• Learner's License: Improved learner's license education focused on safe driving behaviours, educating driver's on the dangers of alcohol and speed, in a way that is sufficiently robust to ensure that young drivers become safe drivers.
• Driver's License: Driver's License education that is focused on safety above 'passing the test', where there are clear minimum requirements for how much time students should spend with certified, skilled instructors.
• Friends & Family: Friends and family that cares and asks each other to avoid driving after drinking and slow down when things are going to fast.

South Africa's traffic related fatalities can be reduced to zero, but it requires a concerted effort from government, driving instructors and the public to insure everyone can live long and healthy lives. Go to http://www.africanlicence.com/insights to do your part to help create safer South African roads. 

Drive Safely, Live Longer!

For students that wish to practice for the actual learner's licence test, African Licence offers a testing facility which includes a dozen mock tests and more than 700 unique questions across the learner's licence curriculum. Says Mr Crampton: "The website's Feedback feature is also helpful: if you have a question, just ask; if you have an idea, share it; if you wish to report an issue, do so. We are here to help South Africans obtain their driver's licence."

For more information, please contact African Licence at http://www.africanlicence.com via the website's Feedback feature, which is accessible on all pages.