Assessment of law Enforcement in Preventing Pedestrian Fatalities in Limpopo Province (South Africa)
Abstract
This paper explores law enforcement in preventing pedestrian fatalities in Limpopo Province. The challenges in addressing pedestrian fatalities in Limpopo Province are primarily those of human behaviour. The inability of law enforcement officials to enforce the law consistently is a major problem and it contribute to road users not abiding by the rules of the road. The study utilised quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 195 respondents. Comprises of 15 civil engineering companies, 23 civil society organisations, 52 community members, 51 teachers and 54 traffic police officials. The findings from the study revealed among many others, that 55.4% of the respondents agreed that lack of support from law enforcement agencies in enforcing the law contribute to pedestrian fatalities; 59% of the respondents agreed that lack of resources in enforcing the law contribute to pedestrian fatalities; 75.9% of the respondents agreed that corruption compromises road safety and 75.4% of the respondents agreed that unroadworthy vehicles contribute to pedestrian fatalities in Limpopo Province. Based on the findings of the study the author provided possible recommendations such as; Law enforcement agencies should fortify their relationships to prevent pedestrian fatalities; Resources should be allocated to road safety programmes; Law enforcement agencies should recruit graduates in Traffic Safety and Municipal Police or related diploma to provide knowledge, skills and attitude; Road users should be empowered with the rules of the road.
References
[2] ARRIVE ALIVE. 2017. Corruption, Traffic Enforcement and Road Safety. Available online: https://www.arrivealive.co.za/Corruption-Traffic-Enforcement-and-Road-Safety. Accessed on 07/10/2017.
[3] MPHELA, T. 2011. The impact of traffic law enforcement on road accident fatalities in Botswana. Available online: http://www.jtscm.co.za/index.php/jtscm/article/view File/77/73. Accessed on 07/10/2017.
[4] AFUKAAR, F.K., ANTWI, P. & OFOSU-AMAAH, S. 2003. Pattern of road traffic injuries in Ghana: Implications for control. Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 10(1‒2).
[5] EUROPEAN SURVEY OF ROAD USERS SAFETY ATTITUDES. 2016. Enforcement and support for road safety policy measures. Available online: http://esranet.eu/sites/default/files/ESRA2015ThematicReportNo6EnforcementANDSupportMeasures_0.pdf. Accessed on 09/10/2017.
[6] ARRIVE ALIVE. 2010. Decade of Action and Arrive Alive, National road safety strategy 2011‒2020. Available online: https://www.arrivealive.co.za/documents/Road%20 Safety%20Strategy%20for%20South%20Africa%202011.pdf. Accessed on 21/04/2018.
[7] AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION. 2017. Pedestrian safety needs urgent attention. Available online: https://www.aa.co.za/about/press-room/press-releases/pedestrian-safety-needs-urgent-attention.html. Accessed on 05/06/2017.
[8] ZEGEER, C.V., SANDT, L. AND SCULLY, M. 2009. How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. Available online: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/ped_ focus/docs/fhwasa0512.pdf. Accessed on 28/03/2018.
[9] ARRIVE ALIVE. 2018. Corruption, Traffic Enforcement and Road Safety. Available online: https://www.arrivealive.co.za/Corruption-Traffic-Enforcement-and-Road-Safety. Accessed on 21/02/2018.
[10] DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT (DoT). 2012. Annual report 2012/13. [Online]. Available from: http://www.transport.gov.za/Portals/0/Annual%20Reports/DoT%20 Annual%20Report%20WEB.pdf. Accessed: 17/08/2015.
[11] PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPERS (PWC). 2017. A guide for policy makers: On reducing road fatalities. Available online: https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/publications/ road-safety/pwc-guide-on-reducing-road-fatalities.pdf. Accessed on 27/08/2018.
[12] CHIPU, M.V. 2016. The prevention of pedestrian fatalities in Polokwane policing area. Tshwane University of Technology.
[13] WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION. S.a. Enforcement of traffic laws. Available online: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/road_traffic/2pager- Enforcement-final.pdf. Accessed on 16/02/2018.
[14] REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA (RSA). 1996b. National Road Traffic Act, No. 93 of 1996. Pretoria: Government Printers.
[15] ARRIVE ALIVE. 2020. Crime as a threat to road safety in South Africa. Available online: https://www.arrivealive.mobi/crime-as-a-threat-to-road-safety-in-south-africa. Accessed on 25/08/2020.
[16] SOUTHERN AFRICAN LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE. 2014. Ndlanzi v S (318/2013) [2014] ZASCA 31; [2014] 3 All SA 43 (SCA); 2014 (2) SACR 256 (SCA) (28 March 2014). Available Online http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2014/31.html. Accessed on 10/01/2022.
[17] AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE. 2018. Minimum requirements. Available online: https://www.afp.gov.au/careers/vacancies/how-apply/minimum-requirements. Accessed on 19/02/2018.
[18] POLITICS WEB. 2016. Road fatalities over the 2015/2016 season up 14% ‒ Dipuo Peters. Available online: http://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/road-fatalities-over-the-20152016-season-up-14--di. Accessed on 23/10/2017.
[19] BLESS C., HIGSON-SMITH, C. & SITHOLE, S.L. 2013. Fundamentals of social research methods: An African perspective. 5th ed. Cape Town: Juta.
[20] STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA. 2016. Media release: Limpopo community survey 2016 results. Available online: http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=7988. Accessed on 19/09/2018.
[21] DE VOS, A.S., STRYDOM, H., FOUCHÉ, C.B. & DELPORT, C.S.L. 2011. Research at grassroots for the social sciences and human service professions. 4th ed. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
[22] SCHINDLER, D.R. & COOPER, P.S. 2001/2003. Business Research Methods. Seventh/Eight Edition. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill.
[23] BARTHOLOMEW, D., KNOTTS, M. & MOUSTAKI, I. 2011. Latent variable models and factor analysis: A unified approach. (3rd ed.). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
