Cape Town - The Road Traffic Management Corporation has rolled out a new awareness campaign aimed at reducing the death rate among young road users.
Spokesman Simon Zwane said on Thursday the agency had declared June a month of focusing on road safety amongst the youth.
The “I am young and responsible” campaign was aimed at reducing the high incidence of deaths among young people in road accidents that could be easily prevented in the first place, he said.
“It is a campaign to educate young people on road safety, in an effort to reduce the numbers of fatalities and injuries that result from road crashes.”
The campaign will also target road users as a whole; in addition to drivers, it would include passengers, pedestrians and cyclists.
LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH
Road crashes “are now recognised as the leading cause of death among young people throughout the world, and most of the deaths happen to low and middle-income countries,” he said.
“It is sobering to reflect on the fact that most of these fatalities involve young people from 20 to 39 years old.
“This constitutes more than half of the people who die on the roads daily as a result of road crashes,” Zwane said.
Improving road awareness behaviour, said Zwane, was key to reducing the high death rate associated with road crashes. He cited speed, drunk driving and jaywalking as being among the main causes of road-related deaths.
The campaign would address issues associated with road crashes, such as seat belts, alcohol abuse, texting while driving or walking, and other behavioural patterns that play a role in road crashes, and could be prevented, he said.