[ Home ] [ Speeches & statements ]

"CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE"

The Minister of Transport, Dullah Omar, today expressed his concern and sadness on the number of children killed on our roads since the beginning of the festive season. Minister Omar said that the fact that more than 50 children were killed on our roads was an indication that "we still had a long way to go in promoting road safety".

Minister Omar said the behaviour of some of the drivers was costing the nation dearly. "Children brighten our lives. They are the beauty of our nation. They are our future", Omar said. He said that drivers, parents and other road users should take an extra care and responsibility for children. "We need partnerships and more community-based road safety forums and education programmes in our communities to make sure that we decrease the number of accidents on our roads", Omar said.

The Minister said this after the Arrive Alive Information Centre revealed that 50 children under the age of 15 were killed on our roads since 1 December 2001. The centre reported that 29 of the children were pedestrians, 22 of them passengers, and two cyclists.

Minister Omar called upon drivers to look out for pedestrians and cyclists at all times. He said that he was mindful of the fact that some major roads were not designed to cater for pedestrians and cyclists. "We know that in some areas provision was not made for pedestrians and cyclists to use the road with ease. We call upon all drivers to take extra precaution and respect that the road belongs to everyone who uses it", Omar added.

Minister Omar said that the Department has started to erect overhead bridges and put highly visible road signs and road markings to warn drivers of pedestrians and cyclists. He also said that the Department of Transport has committed R3million per province to improve hazardous pedestrian locations as identified during the National Pedestrian Workshop held in January 2001. All nine provinces have been mandated to work with communities to implement a rolling programme of identification and prioritisation of hazardous pedestrian location and the application of multi-disciplinary solutions.

Contact: Mike Mabasa at 083 680 7048, FAX: 083 676 8450

Issued by Ministry of Transport

20 December 2001