Justice Project South Africa has instituted and continues to devise new initiatives designed to bring about its objectives. Amongst these initiatives are the JPSA AARTO facts website, a number of services including the JPSA Priority Assist service, the JPSA eyewitness programme, involvement in drafting of legislation, engaging with professional, qualified driving instructors and seeking to bring about a transformation in the way in which road safety education and advertising is presented.
In July 2009, JPSA registered the aarto.co.za domain name when it became available due to deletion. For some time, we pointed this domain to the RTMC's AARTO website, but when it became apparent that their site was not functioning correctly, was providing incorrect and misleading information and had no usable representation or other forms available on it, we authored and published the AARTO facts website.
AARTO facts thoroughly describes the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act in layman's terms for everyone to understand and also provides information and resources to smooth the way for motorists who need to comply with the Act.
Currently it is the only website on the internet that thoroughly deals with AARTO and the RTMC and Department of Transport, whilst not actively endorsing it, have done so by their silence and taken advantage of the fact that people can get the information they need by visiting AARTO facts and this has led to them taking down their previous attempt at a website and replacing it with next to nothing.
The "official AARTO website" at www.aartosa.co.za and www.aarto.gov.za points to www.rtmc.co.za and provides nothing more than a minor mention of AARTO on the RTMC website. To visit the AARTO facts website, click here.
Law enforcement officials are supposed to be there to protect law abiding citizens from wrongdoers and enforce the laws of the land. But when law enforcers become abusive towards both, those who have indeed done wrong and those who have not, they demote themselves from enforcers and protectors to predators.
People are supposed to respect law enforcers, not fear them and when fear or disrespect becomes the order of the day, the entire situation deteriorates to little more than anarchy.
That is why JPSA has now instituted a subscription based service for members of the public who do not wish to fall victim to power abuse, corruption and illegitimate law enforcement and membership has been opened with effect from July 2011. To learn more about and subscribe to JPSA Priority Assist, click here.
You can tell people what the consequences of unruly behaviour on the roads results in all you like, and very little, if anything will sink in. It's not that they are purposefully ignoring you, nor is it that they have consciously made a decision to break laws, it is just human nature.
Just like when one tells a child not to play with fire or near a hot stove, the impact of doing so rarely sinks in until they get burned. But when it comes to road safety, do we really need (or want) to wait until someone has killed or maimed one or more people or themselves before we make an attempt to educate or punish them? Well, quite frankly, yes - that is exactly how South African road traffic authorities see things.
JPSA holds an entirely different view and has proven that education leads to prevention, which in turn, with all due respect to the likes of Collins Letsoalo, acting CEO of the RTMC, is always better than cure.
JPSA's eyewitness programme takes those who are at risk of or have become delinquent road users and exposes them to real-life medical emergencies on our roads through the cooperation of ER24 emergency medical services. To learn more about and enrol in the JPSA eyewitness programme, click here.
For at least the last two decades South Africa's road safety authorities have been harping on with the slogan "Speed Kills!" and whilst it is most certainly true that velocity contributes greatly to the seriousness of a collision, the way in which South African traffic authorities have come to enforce speed violations is little more than an exercise in gaining huge revenues from the blood of innocent and not so innocent people.
The use of speed cameras in South Africa is at an all time high and contributes literally billions of Rand to the traffic authorities', municipalities and private industry coffers on an annual basis and whilst speed limit violation has been identified as one of the major problems on South Africa's roads, instead of stemming the tide of those engaged in speeding, cameras have in fact significantly increased the incidence of this violation.
JPSA is completely opposed to the use of speed cameras and thoroughly behind the instant stopping and citing of speed offenders on the spot. We are embarking on a nationwide campaign to have the use of speed cameras curtailed, if not banned outright and a return to physical speed enforcement restored. Anyone in their right mind and who is not benefiting from incorrect speed enforcement must see sense and support this initiative. To learn more about this initiative, click here.
Annual road death and injury statistics in South Africa are amongst the highest in the world - that is a fact. Caring about this is so low on the agendas of ordinary South Africans it is almost non-existent in their lives unless they or someone they love becomes on of those statistics and this is evident in the way in which people continue to drive on our roads.
Here's a statistic for you - 47% of all those who lost their lives on our roads in 2009 were under the influence of alcohol. Simply put, this means that people do not take seriously the fact that alcohol and drugs play a significant role in causing injuries and deaths, especially when they are combined with machinery. A gun is a machine and so is a motor vehicle, yet whilst getting a licence to possess a legal firearm in South Africa is nearly impossible, getting a driving licence is uncomplicated and often, does not even require competency.
Media advertising has been proven itself to be one of the most effective ways to influence people's attitudes and behaviours - why else would billions be spent on it? Yet South Africa's road safety advertising is so infrequent and lame in its approach that it has little or no impact.
JPSA has embarked on a campaign to rally support and funding for the kind of graphic, in your face advertising that is used by other countries, more specifically the TAC, Victoria who do not dress up the horrors of road crashes. If it offends you to see people bleeding, screaming, dying and grieving on TV, then that is exactly what we want it to do, so please do not expect an apology from us when we do get this type of footage onto national television and other media.
If you too want to see a hard line approach to road safety advertising become a reality in South Africa, please click here to see how you can contribute and get involved.
This page was last updated on Saturday 30 July, 2011