The implementation of the road safety strategy towards reducing accidents and road fatalities on the N1 : a case study of Limpopo Province

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of the national road safety strategy towards reducing accidents and road fatalities on the N1 in the Limpopo Province. Qualitative research was conducted to determine the experiences of the traffic law enforcement officers in implementing the road safety strategy in the Limpopo Province. Primary qualitative data were collected using the semi-structured questionnaire supplemented by telephonic interviews. Two groups of participants including the traffic law enforcement officers (n=10) and managers (n=5) participated in the study. The study established the domains of effective implementation and areas of challenges with discrepancy between the expected level of strategy implementation and availability of sufficient human and fiscal resources to enhance effective strategy implementation. The factors that impeded the effective implementation of the road safety strategy towards reducing accidents and road fatalities on the N1 in the Limpopo Province included the inadequate allocation and distribution of traffic officers in areas with a high probability of accidents, delayed recruitment of sufficient traffic law enforcement officers and unavailability of required budgeted funds for procurement of state of the art physical equipment to monitor the speed and magnitude of traffic flows and real-time surveillance and capture of road safety transgressions. The findings revealed that there is a considerable need for traffic law enforcement managers to collaborate with behavioural professionals and the police to ascertain effective behavioural change mechanisms to encourage road safety compliance. However, recruitment and constant re-training of traffic law enforcement officers on best practice strategies for traffic law enforcement could be useful to ensure the effective implementation of the road safety strategy; thereby contributing towards the reduction of accidents and road fatalities on the N1 in the Limpopo Province.