Arrive Alive New Page Section

Arrive Alive Online Report 2011

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:49:50 +0200

Introduction / Background to the Arrive Alive Website

At the start of the year we need to reflect on our online road safety initiatives during 2011.

This is done not only with the aim of providing feedback to our road safety partners, but also towards improving and defining strategies for 2012. The Arrive Alive website was launched on the 13th of March 2003 with the objective to provide the best possible information portal for Road Safety in South Africa. As new technology has become available, so have our efforts increased to use these technological advances in the efforts to create awareness of road safety and facilitate greater interaction between the public and road safety experts, groups and authorities.

Objectives:

The Arrive Alive Website and related Road Safety Initiatives Overview 2011 will provide a detailed overview of:

the progress made in 2011
initiatives undertaken to improve road safety awareness
mediums used to share information
target audience and wider audience reached
public interaction facilitated
making this possible
how to get involved

Highlights in 2011:

The Arrive Alive website was an important portal for the safe travel of many tourists- and this was recognized when the Directorate: Government Communication and Information System approached us with a request to use information from the website for the official COP17 website.

Links were also added to the Arrive Alive Road Safety website from the COP17 website.

It was a highlight to meet the Transport Minister at the Stakeholders Meeting for the I-Pledge Campaign.

The Arrive Alive Online initiative has become so much more than just a website. We also had the pleasure of delivering road safety addresses during 2011 to a wide audience – from Senior Managers at Eskom about road rage and aggressive driving, to students at a hostel during RAG about drunk driving platforms, but also to fund all this initiatives and provide additional exposure to our road safety partners.

Additional to the usual media releases and news reports, it remains important to continue with the development of new pages of content. This is most often inspired through the interaction with other road safety experts as well as members from the public in need of specific information.

New content pages developed and added during 2011 included:

Guide to Bus Passenger Safety
ArriveAlive.co.za Ruler and Bookmark Project
Toll Tariffs and Discounts for Gauteng Highways
Road Safety and Flood Risks for Drivers and Pedestrians
Vehicle and Insurance Telematics
Changing Shock Absorbers
Different levels of emergency personnel
Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 - 2020
FleetConnect and Road Safety
Vehicle Telematics, Accident Investigation and Fleet Management
Cycle4Life! Learner in Traffic Project
Eqstra and Accident Management
Stopping Distances for Trucks and Road Safety
Traffic Calming and Pedestrian Safety
Traffic Calming, Speed Calming and Road Safety
Road Safety and Avoiding Windscreen Damage
I–Pledge and Road Safety in South Africa

We also shared important information from others such as:

2009 Road Crash Report
Crime Report 2010/2011 and Road Safety
Consumer impact of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Program
Toll Tariffs 15 March 2011

Herewith find an overview of the website and road safety exposure provided:

Google Analytics

The best tool to analyse traffic flow and visitor numbers is the technology offered through Google Analytics. We would like to share the website traffic as measured by Google Analytics from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011.

Arrive Alive Road Safety Website at www.arrivealive.co.za

328,677 Visits

265,643 people visited this site

265,643 Unique Visitors

629,018 Page views

Road Safety Blog at www.roadsafety.co.za

131,087 Visits

110,221 people visited this site

213,194 Page views

Accidents Blog at www.accidents.co.za

78,731 Visits

60,845 people visited this site

60,845 Unique Visitors

140,292 Page views

Mobile: ArriveAlive.mobi

Media releases and news stories have also been included during 2011 on the mobile road safety website at www.arrivealive.mobi

K53 Mobile Application

- The Arrive Alive website partnered with the developers of a K53 Mobile Application to create awareness and enable learner drivers to test their knowledge from their cellular phones.

Social Media and Campaigns

To reach a much wider audience for road safety it is important to reach those who are active in the social media environment. Not only is this important to share sections of content and road safety links, but also to share info about the road safety initiatives by our road safety partners.

The ArriveAlive.co.za is active on our own platforms on both Facebook and Twitter

Facebook Fans 1788 http://www.facebook.com/ArriveAlive.co.za

Twitter: Tweets 3,993 Followers 2,223 @_ArriveAlive

We are also administrators on 2 larger platforms, allowing us to share new content and media releases with a much wider audience:

Proudly South Africa: Facebook Fans 35,731

Rugby15: Facebook Fans 15,087 Twitter Followers: 10,040

Arrive Alive.co.za and Additional Media Exposure

It is important that we reach a far wider audience than those with access to the internet. The Arrive Alive online road safety initiatives are also aimed at journalists, reporters, researchers and teachers who are able to gather the road safety information and distribute to a wider audience.

We would like to focus on some of these other media that distributed the road safety information from the Arrive Alive website and recognized this. We have assisted these platforms in providing info, answering requests for information etc.

Magazines:

Cosmopolitan Magazine [Drive It]
Glamour Magazine
Assistance to Weg/ Wegsleep Magazine
Traffic Focus Magazines
Mommies Parenting Journal
Cleo Magazine
Safe Travel Magazine
Playboy Magazine Drunk Drive Feature
Assistance to Huisgenoot on Child Restraints
Fleet Magazine
Child Magazine
South African Pharmacy Journal
Women's Health
SA Journal of Child Health
Psychological Society of South Africa: PsyTalk

Newspapers:

Rapport
Volksblad
Zola Urban News
Beeld
Weekend Argus
Ladybrand News

Television

Permission has been requested and granted for several PSA's for the Vuka Awards which appeared on DSTV
CNBCAfrica
Carte Blanche -"Teen Drinkers"

Educational:

Education is one of the most important “E’s” required to address driver behaviour. During the past year the Arrive Alive online initiative closely cooperated with a few initiatives to share information with scholars.

Education for scholars - annual ruler project - road safety

Gauteng Community for Safety and Cycle 4 Life / Learner in Traffic Cycling Project

Guidance to schools on safe scholar patrol

Text Books:

"Achieve English First Additional Language Grade 10 Learner Book" Title of publication: "Minibus taxis and road safety"
Title: Spot on Tourism Grade 10 Article: 'Rules of the road'
Gauteng Department of Education Maths Literacy Grade 12

Radio Interview

The Arrive Alive website has been approached by several radio stations for interviews and road safety updates, especially during Easter and the December festive season. We have referred many of these to spokespersons at the Department of Transport and the RTMC, or have taken part in interviews radio stations such as:

Talk Radio 702/Cape Talk 567
Assistance to MFM 92.6
RSG several interviews with Amore Bekker on “Tjailatyd”

Company Newsletter /Circulars

The Arrive Alive website has been approached by many corporates with a request for information to be used in their own internal road safety campaigns. This has been included on the intranet of companies and in company newsletters. These companies and forums include:

Newsletters:

Government Employees Medical Scheme [GEMS] Newsletter
Newsletter of South African Insurance Crime Bureau
CrisisOnCall Newsletter
Eqstra Newsletter
Medscheme quarterly newsletter to members
KZN: Ezempilo Health Matters
Cape Metrorail Blits
Discovery Newsletters

Other Websites

An important benefit of an online information portal is the ability to share the website via other websites and blogs. The information from the Arrive Alive website or links to the website has been included on many prominent websites including:

Government Website at Info.gov.za
Health24 from News24
Iol.co.za
The New Age
BizCommunity
Daily Maverick
Mail &Guardian
Western Cape government's Safely Home Website
TheJogBlog
Assistance to South Africa.info
COP17 climate change website
My Broadband.co.za

Intermediary and Consulting Services

To be not only an effective information portal, but also a mechanism for greater public involvement, we have developed sections to enhance greater public interaction. An often overlooked, yet very important objective is to assist the public in gaining clarity on road safety matters and provide responses to queries raised via the Arrive Alive website.

Assistance to Tourism Safety Initiative
Project Arrive Alive - Intervarsity 2011
Life Rosepark Hospital and Shell Ultra City Pitstop Road Safety Project
Presentation to students at the Central University of Technology

International Assistance:

The reach of the Arrive Alive online initiative is not restricted to the borders of South Africa. During 2011 assistance was requested from several international visitors and information shared with them, including the following:

Hendersonville Police Department: Request to use Best Photos at an Accident Scene
Assistance to American Embassy
Permission to use images in the book: "The Adult's Health", Romania
Assistance to Mexican Chapter of the World Health Organization
Assistance to Public Education Officer MVA Fund Service Centre Namibia
Trucking company requesting guidance in Kenya
Posters to appear in the exhibition "Alcohol around the world" promoted by Addiction Services of the North West Health area of Florence

Conferences

The Arrive Alive website has been a media partner to several Road Safety Conferences

Intelligence Strategies for Law Enforcers
3rd Annual Road Safety Summit 2011
7th Annual Road Safety Africa Summit 2011
Road Safety Conference 2011
ILCAD International Level Crossing Publication

Interaction with the Public

Herewith find a detailed summary of how public interaction was facilitated during 2011:

“Contact Us” on ArriveAlive.co.za

Thousands of e-mails have been received via the “Contact Us” section - these have been responded to and forwarded to the Department of Transport, Road Traffic Management Corporation and various road safety experts for further comment.
These emails are kept in various email folders for later reference.
Emails received and Responded to from the Arrive Alive.co.za website:
Arrive Alive email 2011 Folder: 6764
Arrive Alive 2011 Folder: 2215

Blog Comments on the Road Safety & Arrive Alive Blog

Visitors to the Road Safety & Arrive Alive Blog as well as Accidents Blog are able to comment on blog posts and also request clarification or answers to specific questions.
These questions have been answered on the Blog and where appropriate a Blog post has been added to provide additional details to these responses and enable other visitors to benefit from these responses.

Ask the Experts Section

A section was created called “Ask the Experts” to provide specialised knowledge to members of the public on technical questions.
Questions are referred to experts in the fields of licensing, testing, enforcement, road freight, legislation, safe driving etc and the answers are added to the website

The requests that could benefit many other visitors as well are also shared on the Blogs in a “Did you Know” format.

The Wall of Remembrance on the ArriveAlive.co.za website has been developed to support and give recognition to the Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims and compliment the efforts by Government and NGO’s to enhance awareness of road safety!

48 entries by families of road accident victims at 31 December 2011

Reports made via the Arrive Alive website to the National Traffic Call Centre at the RTMC

2421 Reports of Bad Driving & Road Condition Reports

News stories shared on the Arrive Alive Website during 2010

516 From Arrive Alive.co.za

493 Road Safety in the Media

301 Road Safety Highlights

241 Dept. of Transport

Partnerships and Collaboration

It has become more important to cooperate and collaborate in other initiatives as well. In a tough financial environment where NGO’s and small business struggle it has become vital for the survival of this road safety initiative to develop new platforms and to assist others with expertise and consulting services.

The hours of hard work and dedication that goes into these efforts are most often not fully understood and appreciated, and we would like to provide an overview to summarize the effort which has gone into these collaborations during 2011.

Road Safety Blogs

Road Safety Blog at www.roadsafety.co.za

From launch to 1 January 2012

Blogs posts written: 1890

Comments 616

Road Safety and Arrive Alive Blog at www.roadsafety.wordpress.com

From launch to 1 January 2012

Blog posts written 1608

Comments 1204

Accidents Blog at www.accidents.co.za

From launch to 1 January 2012

Blog posts written 1022

Comments 207

Partnering with Miningsafety.co.za

In the 2010 Online Review we revealed that we will partner in the development of an online initiative to create awareness of safety in the mining industry. This was inspired by past cooperation with and assistance to mining companies in their own road safety campaigns.

It was our vision to share both content and expertise gained during the past few years as online safety consultant. We also expressed our belief that the Arrive Alive website can make a significant contribution to not only safety on our roads -but also to the safety in the Mining Industry!

We are pleased to confirm that this has culminated in the launch of the website at www.miningsafety.co.za on the 1st of February.

Today we can reflect on both hard work and many successes in this partnership. The Mining Safety website has been able to provide content for inclusion in an international publication, and has also been a media partner to a Conference on Mining Ventilation at the end of 2011.

Challenges in Creating Road Safety Awareness Online

We should not only provide information on the successes achieved, but also reflect on the challenges during 2011 and recognize those who have assisted in making road safety awareness possible.

Things you might not know:

The development team consists of 1 full time and 2 “part time” members.
The Website received a Letter of Endorsement from The Department of Transport in 2007
The Arrive Alive website and online initiatives are not funded by the Department of Transport or the Road Traffic Management Corporation
NO Funding was received in 2011 from the Department of Transport or the RTMC

- There is no marketing budget for these online road safety initiatives.

Road Safety Partners:

To create road safety awareness via the Arrive Alive website and other media we approached companies to partner in these efforts. From our side we provide exposure and recognition to these partners and their road safety involvement on the website and blogs.

Arrive Alive:

OUTsurance / TomTom/ ER24/ PG Glass – Shatterprufe/ Gabriel/

Ctrack/ TracN4/ Lucozade/ Imperial –I-Pledge / Eqstra /

SA Roadlink / SA Speedbumps / PSA/ Breathalayzers.co.za/ MCubed/

Insurance Blogs:

OUTsurance / MiWay/ Pay As You Drive

Mining Safety:

ER24/ Komatsu / HSE/ iFatigue / Booyco Electronics/ SA Speedbumps

We would also like to recognize individuals and groups that made important contributions:

Chillies and Nelio for allowing us to operate from the Chillies offices in Bloemfontein.
Charl Wilson for website development
Pierre Steenkamp for graphics and multimedia
Internext for webhosting
All the experts – with a special word of appreciation to Howard Dembovsky, Kevin Kara-Vala, Alta Swanepoel, Isaiah Mamabolo and Gavin Hoole for the numerous times they have assisted the public.
Those individuals from the Department of Transport and the RTMC who were willing to answermany questions and providing feedback to the public
Journalists, reporters, media editors, webmasters and everyone who assisted in the wider distribution of road safety information from the Website and Blogs
Individuals from SANRAL and the RAF for feedback provided to questions from the Public.
Family, friends and everyone who have been positive and provided words of inspiration.

How can I get involved?

We will continue to commit ourselves to these road safety efforts. There is so much more we can achieve with the participation of both corporate South Africa and individuals. We recognize that

there are much expertise and knowledge to be gathered in strengthening these efforts.

We would like to invite others to become part of the road safety initiatives. This could include:

- Becoming an Arrive Alive Website partner

We will discuss with such partner how such partnering contribution can be used to develop new sections of content. The partner will be provided with exposure of such a partnership by way of:

Exposure to logos
Sections of Content
Horizontal and other banners/ graphics

Blog Posts and media exposure on the road safety initiatives and corporate social responsibility initiatives of the Partner

- Advisor and Consulting Services

Every person can contribute to road safety irrespective of age, gender or financial status. We would like to invite the public to contribute by sending advice and recommendations on how to achieve greater road safety in South Africa.

We welcome any suggestions on new content or additional means of creating awareness that should be pursued.

We would like to invite visitors to contact us with suggestions at

Contact details:

Adv Johan Jonck

Cell: +27 (82) 370 0991

Email: jonckie@arrivealive.co.za

Click to download the Arrive Alive Online Report 2011 in PDF format

I–Pledge and Road Safety in South Africa

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:24:42 +0200

Imperial has during 2011 launched the I-Pledge Campaign in an effort to reduce road deaths and enhance road safety in South Africa. We decided to approach Imperial and gain more insight on this Campaign.

What is I-Pledge?

The I-Pledge road safety philosophy is two-fold: for us to make a personal and conscious commitment to break our bad habits and stay within the law, and further, to see other road users from a different perspective and not to react if you are, for instance, cut off by another driver.

The I-Pledge does not however condone bad behavior on our roads. Our campaign wants people to react positively instead of negatively. If everyone reacts to bad driving by ensuring that they correct a bad habit, soon we will all be driving safely.

The I-Pledge is about making a conscious effort to do away with our bad habits such as texting while driving, drinking and driving, not keeping a safe and sufficient following distance or exceeding the speed limit, even by 10km/h?

How do you monitor those who take the I-Pledge?

Unfortunately, we cannot control who takes the I-Pledge or how they drive once they take the I-Pledge. It is our intention that by them taking the I-Pledge that they will think twice about jumping a red light, driving over the speed limit or how they park their cars.

When did you start the road safety campaign?

The campaign was launched to IMPERIAL employees on 18 July 2011, and on 8 November to the South African public.

What were the reasons for the engagement of IMPERIAL?

IMPERIAL is a major road user in southern Africa with its sheer size and geographic footprint putting the group in a great position to make a difference:

460 million kilometres were travelled by its southern African transport fleet last year.
There are 5 500 trucks in the logistics fleet and additional access to almost as many sub-contractors vehicles.
96,453 new and 54,746 used cars sold in South Africa through IMPERIAL.
One in every three car rental transactions in South Africa is made through IMPERIAL.

IMPERIAL believes it has a responsibility to help make South African roads safer and friendlier, starting with its own employees. The campaign has a secondary purpose to increase awareness of the IMPERIAL brand.

Who can participate?

Anyone can participate. Visit www.ipledge.co.za. Take one pledge, take all of them or even write your own personal pledge. You can keep updated on the I-Pledge by visiting the website, following @IPledgeZA on Twitter or joining its Facebook page.

Who are the I-Pledge partners?

We have a number of partners who are well known in road safety in South Africa, including Arrive Alive, Stay Alert Stay Alive, Road Traffic Management Corporation and the Department of Transport with Minister Sibusiso Ndebele as our patron.

I-Pledge has partnered with N3 Toll Concession (N3TC) and Community Medical Services (CMS) to strengthen road safety and emergency support on the 415km N3 Toll Route between Heidelberg in Gauteng to Cedara in KwaZulu-Natal during the six-week Festive Season. IMPERIAL, through its Europcar division, will provide six vehicles to complement N3TC’s existing fleet of 11 route patrol vehicles with additional route surveillance, roadside assistance and law enforcement support. IMPERIAL is also a Friend of the Decade of Action for Road Safety

How long will the campaign run?

We like to regard the IMPERIAL I-Pledge as a movement – a movement that has no end in sight, encouraging road users to be safe, alert and courteous at all times.

Click on the images below to download the IMPERIAL I-Pledge Newsletters

Click on the images below to see the hi-res campaign images.


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Road Safety and Avoiding Windscreen Damage

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:20:24 +0200

It has been recognized on the Arrive Alive Road Safety website that vehicle fitness and aspects such as a clean windscreen are important components to ensuring safety on the road. Drivers need to recognize the dangers from environmental factors such as road works and guard against fallen debris and the impact that this might have on damaging their windscreens.

What are the dangers posed by damaged windscreens?

drivers may take longer to re-adapt their vision following exposure to the stray light effects created through a worn windscreen ("dazzling")
detection distances to objects on the road ahead may be reduced when looking through worn windscreens
the contrast of objects on the road ahead may be reduced - the consequence of which could be a reduction of visibility distances
dirty windscreens seemed to cause drivers to crash twice as often in a driving simulator (as compared to driving with a new windscreen) and when driving with a degraded windscreen, drivers reaction times to a secondary task may be slowed.
driving with a visually degraded windscreen induces fatigue and performance declines more rapidly than when driving with a non-degraded windscreen
older drivers might find worn out windscreens to be even more debilitating compared with younger drivers

Windscreen Damage on South African roads

Based on the experience of PG Glass service centres more than 90% of windscreen claims result from stone damage.

It is accepted that debris on the roads like stones, rocks and grit will always have a direct influence on the number of windscreen claims. The more debris found on the roads, the more windscreen replacements you can expect.

Consequently, the concentration in the construction of new roads and road repairs that preceded and followed the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa did contribute to a higher incidence of damaged windscreens.

Newly built roads, old roads breaking up, resurfacing of old roads, pot holes, trucks driving on the road shoulder, flood damage, and spillage from trucks carting building materials or rubble are all causing more debris on the roads.

Avoiding windscreen damage on South African roads

The faster you go, the easier your windscreen will chip or crack when it is hit by a stone. That’s why city driving contributes to far less claims than is experienced from driving on the freeways and other national and provincial roads.

Likewise, the closer you follow another vehicle, the higher is the chance that a piece of debris will hit your windscreen.

The best way to avoid your windscreen from being damaged by flying stones or other debris is to keep a safe following distance in circumstances where such damage may occur, e. g. in areas of road construction, on gravel roads or when following a truck carrying building materials or rubble. Sixty meters is considered a safe distance.

It will also be a good idea to drive slower in such circumstances.

It is not only trucks carrying endangering loads that can cause damage to a windscreen. In a high number of cases windscreen chips or cracks result from stones thrown by the wheels of passenger cars.

All load carrying vehicles are compelled by road traffic regulation 246 to properly protect any goods it is carrying from being dislodged or spilled from such a vehicle. If not, the operator or the driver must take responsibility for resulting damage. In such a case you can identify the operator through the license plate, obtaining the name and address of the registered owner from your local licensing authority and take action against them.

However, you’ll have to prove that the object that caused the damage was spilled from the vehicle you identified.

If your vehicle is insured your insurance company would most likely cover the cost of replacement. PG Glass will even submit the claim on your behalf.

Also view:

Traffic Calming, Speed Calming and Road Safety

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:44:12 +0200

Introduction and Background

Traffic calming is intended to slow or reduce motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve the living conditions for residents as well as to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Urban planners and traffic engineers worldwide have many strategies for traffic calming and we would like to share some of these strategies on the Arrive Alive road safety website.

Traffic calming was originally justified on the grounds of pedestrian safety and reduction of noise and local air pollution which are side effects of the traffic. However, it is now recognized that streets have social and recreational functions which are severely impaired by car traffic.

For much of the twentieth century, streets were designed by engineers who were charged only with ensuring traffic flow and not with fostering the other functions of streets. The basis for traffic calming is broadening traffic engineering to include designing for these functions.

Traffic Calming in South Africa

During the development of the Arrive Alive website we have received several requests from the public pertaining to “speed calming” and how they should go about requesting speed humps in their residential areas.

We have decided to raise this with the experts and are pleased to share information from a presentation by Willem Badenhorst. The main source of information credited for the content is “Traffic Calming and Road Safety Course, South African Road Federation, Author Jan Coetzee, Pr Eng, ITS Consulting Engineers”

The South African Dilemma

In South Africa we have a prioritization system for traffic calming as we do not, like most authorities, have enough funds in the budget to implement all the traffic calming measures which transport authorities are requested to implement. This used for active traffic calming measures such as speed humps, raised pedestrian crossings and mini-circles.

These requests come from the following sources:

Requests from the public (including petitions)
Requests from Councillors
Requests from other staff members
Own observations

Where not to implement Traffic Calming

City Planners and road engineers will generally implement traffic calming ( speed humps, raised pedestrian crossings and mini-circles) only if none of the following is applicable:

Not in front of entrances
Not in shade of trees and other physical objects during the day
Not where they are not illuminated by street lighting at night
Not on gradients in excess of 8 %
Not on gravel roads (cannot be painted and there is usually no street lighting)
Not on Class 4 or higher Class roads although we sometimes implement mini-circles on such streets
Not within a specified distance of other control mechanisms such3as traffic signals etc

Also please remember that usually they should not be installed as traffic calming measures if they cannot be painted on the same day and often teams have instructions not to leave the site if the measure is not painted and all signage is erected.

Why do people ask for traffic calming?

It is interesting to note that, even though many motorists complain about speed enforcement and are not happy when they receive the dreaded traffic fine, many are voluntarily requesting for speed calming in their neighbourhoods. But why do they ask for traffic calming?

Traffic Calming is most often necessitated by:

Too high speeds
Pedestrian / Vehicle conflict (+/- 95%)
Reckless driving
Impact on safety and quality of life

What are the objectives and goals of Traffic Calming/ Speed Calming?

To better understand the importance of traffic calming and the role that it plays in enhancing road safety, we would like to focus on the objectives and goals of traffic calming.

The Traffic Calming Objectives are:

Reduce speeds of vehicles
To increase road safety

(Pedestrian / vehicle conflict decreases)

Reduce number of vehicles
To increase quality of life

(Fewer vehicles cause less irritation)

Goal of Traffic calming

The goal is to improve road safety, enhance quality of life but not impairing mobility too much.

This is achieved by:

Physical intervention but can include other interventions
Engineering, Education and Enforcement

Principle of Traffic Calming

There are a few important principles to keep in mind when considering traffic calming.

The Main Principles of Traffic Calming are:

To reduce speeds
To lower traffic volumes
To increase driver alertness

Traffic Calming Policy Goals

Traffic Calming Must:

Be part of overall transport strategy
Improve the efficiency of the road network
Protect residential areas
Improve road safety

What is the Purpose of a Traffic Calming Policy?

To ensure that all traffic calming problems are evaluated in a uniform way
To clearly define where on the road network traffic calming is allowed
To describe traffic calming techniques which will be allowed in an area
To define when traffic calming will be warranted
To outline the process that should be followed in evaluating and approving traffic calming facilities

A Traffic Calming Policy should contain:

Road Hierarchy
Road classes where traffic calming will be allowed
Routes where NOT allowed (emergency and bus routes, crescents)
Minimum speeds and traffic volumes before traffic calming is contemplated
Techniques which will be allowed
Funding mechanisms

What are the Principles of a Road Hierarchy?

Principles to be adhered to:

Facilitate certain trip length on correct class of road – linked to mobility
Road geometry should be linked to class of road
Accommodate adjacent land use – eg no through traffic in residential areas
High order roads should not intersect with low order roads, eg Class 4 should have no interchange with freeway
Pedestrian faclities linked to class of road (No pedestrians on freeway - Class 1 Road)

Road Class and Traffic Calming

ROAD CLASS	Type	Description	Traffic Calming
U1	Freeway	High mobilty, no or very limited at grade access	None
U2	Major Arterial/ Regional Distributor	High Mobility, limited at grade access (intersections) no direct property access	None
U3	Arterial / Major Collector	Balanced mobilty, and accessibility function – typical direct access in older suburbs	Traffic calming to consist only of signage and road makings (not physical)
U4	Collector	More accessibility, less mobilty, direct property access	All types, but with focus on mini-circles iso speed humps
U5	Local Street	Less mobility, more accessibilty	All types, but with focus on speed humps and aesthetically pleasing elements such as paved areas
U6	Pedestrian streets Woonerf	Very limited accessibility and mobility for vehicles but high accessibility and mobilty for pedestrians and cycles	To restrict access for vehicles

Application of a Road Hirarchy

Functional Classifiaction	Traffic Calming	Pedestrian	Parking (on street)	Informal Trading	Public Transport Facilities	Security Villages (roads closed)	Access Spacing	Design Speed
U1	No	No	No	No	No	No	1,6 – 2,4 km (grade seperated)	120
U2	No	Limited	No	No	Limited	No	0,6 – 1,2 km (can be grade seperated)	100
U3	No Physical	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	0,5 km – 60kmh 0,6km – 70 kmh	80
U4	Limited	Yes	Limited	Limited	Yes	Limited	< 100 m	60
U5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited	< 50 m	60
U6	Can have	Yes	Very Limited	Limited	No	Limited	< 50	20

Road Layout in new Developments

Every new development should in the design of infrastructure and focus on transport and movement within such development include a special focus on safety and especially the potential for conflict between vehicular movement and that of pedestrians.

When approving plans for new townships road and planning engineers need to check for:

Address traffic calming – correct time
Road connectivity based on hierarchy (only two classes up)
Ensure that road class corresponds to expected traffic volumes
No long straight sections
Limited steep gradients
Provision for pedestrians
Provision for public transport
NO Speed humps to be constructed with roads
Narrow residential streets (5,5 to 6m maximum)
Woonerf concept / Security villages / Enclosed neighborhoods

Traffic Calming and the Law

Whenever there is construction and the rights of citizens are affected, we need to be aware of possible legal implications. Engineers might not always be fully aware of the legal realm in which

they operate!

Why are legal issues important?

Physical obstructions are placed in the roadway:

If a vehicle is damaged or a person is injured by this obstruction – the question will be asked “who is liable?”

If a roads authority is aware of an unsafe traffic situation (such as speeding taking place outside a school) and someone is injured or killed and nothing is done, the legal people will consider the question “can the roads authority be liable?”

Traffic Calming and Common law issues

Where there is no direct legal prescription and law regulating a specific aspect the common law principles will apply.

Whether an action is deemed to have been intentional or negligent can be established by way of the common law.

Negligence of person or entity (eg roads authority) WILL be tested against “reasonable man test”

This will determine if the applicable authority would have been able to foresee that the traffic calming device could have caused an accident.

It will further determine if the authority could have foreseen that an accident could have happened if the device had not been installed

Applicable Legal Documents

The legal principles around traffic calming are best to be considered with reference to the following legal documents.

Road Traffic Act (Act 93 of 1996)

PRINCIPLES (“POLITICAL”)

Chapter VII – Road Safety

Chapter IX - Road Traffic Signs and general speed limit

National Road Traffic Regulations

LEGAL TECHNICAL

Chapter IX - Road Traffic Signs and general speed limit

Refer to SADC Manual, SABS Codes

SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual (SADC Manual)

ENGINEERING TECHNICAL

Municipal By-laws

Common Law

SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual - Contains details of road signs and road markings to be used with traffic calming

Following the Manual will ensure consistency

To deviate from manual – have very good reason (in other words, do not deviate)

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Traffic Calming and Pedestrian Safety

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:49:29 +0200

In South Africa approximately 35% of all road fatalities are pedestrian fatalities. We have shared information on the Arrive Alive road safety website with our pedestrians on how to avoid becoming road crash fatalities. These include the need for increased visibility around traffic, the need for alertness etc.

We have also shared safety suggestions with drivers when driving in the vicinity of pedestrians. When these drivers however do not reduce their speeds as advised it is often up to the road engineers to reduce the risks of speeding vehicles through road design and traffic calming.

In this section we would like to pay closer attention to traffic calming - sometimes referred to as speed calming, and discuss how these measures can help to avoid road fatalities and injuries. We will also refer to other sections of content on the Arrive Alive website and share practical examples on how these measures have been implemented.

What causes pedestrians to be unsafe?

Vehicle / Pedestrian Conflict
Pedestrians sharing roadway with vehicles
At grade facilities (grade separated ideal)
At grade : angle at which pedestrians use road (Parallel, cross skew, at right angles)
Pedestrian behaviour is often unpredictable

Who are the defined Pedestrian Groups?

Children
Adults
Disabled
Aged

Important Concepts in Pedestrian Safety

We would like to take a closer look at some concepts in pedestrian safety to analyse how traffic calming can impact on the behaviour of both pedestrians and motorists to ultimately enhance safety and reduce road deaths.

Concept	Responsible entity
Engineering	Roads authority
Education	Teachers and parents
Enforcement	Metropolitan Police

Engineering Concepts

Separation

Space (separate walkways and roads for vehicular traffic, grade separation) (pedestrian bridge or underpass)

Time (allow pedestrians to take gaps, traffic signals)

Warning

Signs and marks

Mitigation

Reducing speeds (vast majority of cases)

Reducing volumes

Engineering Applications

It is the road engineers who have the technical knowledge and skills required for the implementation and construction of traffic calming measured. Their applications can be used at:

Junctions (Intersections)
Midblock
Public Transport Facilities
Schools / Other high pedestrian volume areas

Education Applications

Even though we might design and implement the best possible measures for traffic calming, this should not be seen in isolation of the important educational component of a traffic calming strategy.

Education:

Essential with any engineering intervention
Focus on different age groups
Children 6 – 12 years
Children over 12 years
Adults
Use text road signs to educate
“Responsible Pedestrian” licence?

Enforcement Applications

Once we have designed, constructed and implemented measures for traffic calming - and educated road users on how to interact with other road users at these road designs, we still need to enforce the Rules of the Road. Traffic Enforcement still remains one of the best measures to ensure obedience and increased safety!

Enforcement:

Sometimes only solution
Not aggressively enough at present
Pilot projects where pedestrians cross highways
Training of community traffic wardens

Engineering Toolbox

What are the tools available to the road engineer to create safety through traffic calming?

Some of the following may be used:

Painted or raised and painted edestrian crossings
Speed humps
Mini-circles
Sidewalks
Road signs
Taxi lay-byes
Median islands
Road marks
Illumination
Barriers and kerbs
Loading facilities at schools
Traffic signals
Scholar patrols
COSBI Strips
Rumble strips (mainly in rural areas)

Before implementing Traffic calming

What is required before implementing any measured for traffic calming?

Have a traffic calming policy in place (ratified by Council)
Have a Traffic calming Master Plan for whole or part of the town or city
Have an approved evaluation process (should be part of policy)
Have a public awareness / education process in place
There should be an awareness amongst officials that a policy and technical criteria exist
Have a recording and feedback system in place

Traffic Calming Master Plan

The Basics of Developing a Traffic Calming Master Plan for part or all of the area for which the roads authority is responsible:

Identify road safety problems before they occur
Study the area in terms of:
Road hierarchy
Traffic Volumes (vehicles and pedestrians)
Determine number of residential units
Land use (Schools, commercial developments, old age home etc)
Road geometry (vertical and horizontal alignments, cross sections etc)

Future planning

Evaluation Process

National Guidelines developed by CSIR are most commonly used

There are variations to this (CTMM uses an adapted variation of CSIR process

Centurion also developed its own method

Other authorities also developed their own processes

Traffic Calming Techniques

There is a wide range of traffic calming techniques. We would like to consider some of these and share examples of how they are implemented on our roads.

There are basically six different methods used to calm traffic (both volumes and speeds)
Vertical displacement (speed humps)
Horizontal displacement (mini-circles)
Lane width reduction (eg choker)
Auditory methods (rumble strips)
Visual methods (Cosbi strips)
Road closure

Examples of Traffic Calming

How do these traffic calming measures look like in the design phase? We would like to share a few examples of layouts of traffic calming measures:

Van Riebeeck, Molteno - LytteltonRPC and mini-circle

Van Riebeeck, Molteno - Lyttelton Placement of circle, signage

Kruger Ave, Lyttelton Choker, stormwater channel

Chokers - Lyttelton

River Road and Service road - Lyttelton

Irene Traffic calm due to reduced lane widths

Intelligent use of Traffic Calming - Lyttelton Manor High School

Lighting and painting of Traffic Calming Features

Lois Avenue 10,5m RoadwayNewlands(Excessively wide lanes – has to be rectified with Traffic Calming)

Lois Avenue Traffic Calming Newlands

Typical Road Classes

Road Classes U1 and U2

Road Classes U3 and U4

Road Class U5

Road Class U6

Road Class U6 - Woonerf

Zambesi Drive - class U2, U3, U4 and U5

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