SDAF is a Not for Profit organisation. Safedrive Africa Foundation was founded after 3 personal tragedies that affected our founder and Executive director in 2005 and 2009. The organization is managed by a Board of Directors who all generously volunteer their skills in order to meet the SDAF missions.
Safedrive Africa Foundation offers road safety programs that provide participants with the information and skills necessary to develop positive attitudes towards safe driving and developing safer driving behaviors. We do this by providing informative and interactive community education for road users to decrease the rates of traffic offences committed; with an ultimate aim of seeing a decrease in fatalities and permanent impairment statistics of all road users.
SDAF is well aware that road traffic injuries are a global problem affecting all sectors of society. It also subscribes to the notion that road traffic injuries are a growing public health issue, which disproportionately affects vulnerable groups of road users, including the poor.
The greater the number of accidents on South African roads, the greater the liability incurred by the SDAF. SDAF therefore, has a strategic business interest in working together with other stakeholders to prevent the occurrence of road accidents.
There are three main types of distraction:
Most crashes involve a relatively unique set of circumstances that make precise calculations of risk for engaging in different behaviours very difficult. Thus, the available research does not provide a definitive answer as to which behaviour is riskier. Different studies and analyses have arrived at different relative risk estimates for different tasks. However, they all show elevated risk (or poorer driving performance) when the driver is distracted. It is also important to keep in mind that some activities are carried out more frequently and for longer periods of time and may result in greater risk.
Every driver has from time-to-time had their attention drawn away from the driving task. The choice to engage in non-driving tasks is usually under the individual’s control and some people do so more frequently. The younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes. They are not alone. At any given moment during the daylight hours, over 800,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. People of all ages are using a variety of hand-held devices, such as cell phones, mp3 players, personal digital assistants, and navigation devices, when they are behind the wheel.
The available research indicates that cell phone use while driving, whether it is a hands-free or hand-held device, degrades a driver’s performance. The driver is more likely to miss key visual and audio cues needed to avoid a crash. Hand-held devices may be slightly worse, but hands-free devices are not risk-free.
As a general rule, drivers should make every effort to move to a safe place off of the road before using a cell phone. However, in emergency situations a driver must use their judgment regarding the urgency of the situation and the necessity to use a cell phone while driving.
Some research findings show both activities to be equally risky, while others show cell phone use to be more risky. A significant difference between the two is the fact that a passenger can monitor the driving situation along with the driver and pause for, or alert the driver to, potential hazards, whereas a person on the other end of the phone line is unaware of the roadway situation. However, when two or more teens are in the vehicle, crash risk is increased. And while we can’t say for sure this is attributable to distraction, we are confident that distraction plays a role.
The roadways are for use by all vehicles, whether human or motor-powered. Through understanding and mutual respect, motorists and bicyclists can successfully share the same environment.
It is common for bicyclists to reach speeds of 20 to 30 mph, and having them travel in the same direction as traffic enhances roadway safety. This is especially true when a vehicle is entering a roadway from a side street or driveway.
Your blood alcohol content or BAC is what determines how drunk you are, not the flavours you selected. Alcohol is alcohol.
Alcohol kills 6 times the number of people killed by cocaine, heroin, and every other illegal drug combined. Ten million Americans are addicted to alcohol. Alcohol is the number one drug problem of America’s youth.
This does happen and is usually due to setting up or taking down work zone signs and devices. Many work zones can be labor intensive to install and remove and can take 1 or 2 hours depending on the size and complexity. If a driver happens to be traveling through a work zone during these periods, the work zone may not be fully operational. Occasionally, a sign may be inadvertently left in place when it is not needed, and we try to respond as soon as possible if this happens. This may also be a nighttime project where the majority of work activities occur during the nighttime hours while traffic volumes are lower.
The key issue here is courtesy. Safe and efficient movement of traffic through the merging area approaching a work zone lane closure depends on the merging drivers’ ability to plan ahead, adjust speed and merge into a safe gap between vehicles in the open lane. Merging is much easier and safer when all drivers act in a courteous manner and work together. Legally, the burden is placed on the merging driver to merge in a safe manner.
Start planning ahead as soon as you can determine which lane is closed. There is no need to abruptly change lanes or merge into the open lane far in advance of the lane closure. Start looking for a safe gap between vehicles in the open lane and merge into that gap in a smooth manner. It is legal to merge into the open lane right up to the actual lane closure taper of devices, but it is recommended to give yourself some additional space and merge somewhat sooner. This will allow a margin of safety in the event that you may not be able to merge as soon as expected.
Don’t panic, usually help will be on the way soon. Stay in your vehicle if you are in a traffic lane, turn on the vehicle flashing hazard lights and call 911 if you have a cell phone. At the first indication of a problem with your vehicle, drive to a shoulder or off-ramp, if at all possible. If it is safe to get out of your vehicle, raise the hood, call and/or wait for help.
An accident can be a traumatic event even without serious injuries, but remain as calm as possible and stay in your car. If it is possible to move your car out of the traffic lane to a shoulder or other safe area, turn on the flashing hazard lights and do so. Call 911 (Nashville 615-862-8600 for non-life threatening emergencies) if you have a cell phone and/or wait for help. Help should arrive soon.
Because our programs sell out and we are constantly adding new dates and closing off full programs, we can’t publish all of our dates because by the time we write, we probably would have added more.
Sure we are registered under NGOs coordination in Kenya the year 2012, and we have been for over 8 years working with National transport safety Authority, a member of global alliance of NGOs for road safety in Geneva .
As a Not for Profit all of our proceeds go back into the community to fund driver education programs for the most vulnerable and the underprivileged.
A preventable incident is one in which the driver failed to do everything that reasonably could have been done to avoid a collision.
Injury Facts compares four modes of transportation: scheduled airlines, railroad passenger trains buses and light-duty vehicles, like passenger cars, light trucks, vans and sports utility vehicles regardless of wheelbase.
In general, buses, trains and airlines have much lower death rates than light duty vehicles when the risk is expressed as passenger deaths per passenger kilometers of travel. Light duty vehicle drivers are considered passengers but operators and crew of planes, trains and buses are not.
The following steps must be taken subsequent to an accident:
Record the following details:
As well as obeying the road rules, people riding motorcycles can reduce the dangers of being killed or seriously injured on Kenyan roads by wearing a helmet and protective clothing.
It’s important to look for an anti-lock braking system which will prevent the bike from skidding and increases stability. Motorcycles are, by nature, less stable than four-wheeled vehicles. Braking too hard can destabilise a motorcycle and lead to either the front or rear wheel locking, causing the bike to overturn or slide.
Alternatively, failure to brake hard enough can result in a rider failing to avoid a crash. ABS works to prevent a motorcycle's wheel, or wheels, from locking during braking. ABS uses speed sensors on both wheels to accurately determine wheel speed as well as sensors to determine when a wheel is about to lock.
ABS adjusts the braking pressure accordingly to prevent the wheel from locking and assists with maintaining the stability of the motorcycle. In many circumstances, ABS has been shown to reduce braking distance. Motorcycles with ABS technology have been shown to be involved in fewer crashes on the road.
No, but before targeted safety improvements can be identified, Safedrive Africa Foundation needs to have enough evidenced information of a specific problem. This is usually based on a minimum of seven collisions involving personal injury within a five year period.
Whilst it may be easy to imagine how a collision may occur, Safedrive Africa Foundation cannot predict collisions. The current method of identifying and targeting collisions is not carried out based on risk or likelihood. Without evidenced information it is not possible to consider how any part of our highway may be made safer.
Safedrive Africa Foundation base all of their improvements on personal injury collisions (PICs) recorded by the Police. If there is a treatable record of PICs, this will be identified and prioritised for improvement by us. Whilst there are many damage-only collisions across Somerset, information regarding these is not recorded consistently and so cannot be considered within the analysis work of SDAF.
Firstly, the cause of any danger needs to be identified. If there is a treatable record of personal injury collisions this will be identified and prioritized for improvement by Safedrive Africa Foundation. If we have no record of PICs, this does not mitigate potential danger. Discuss the danger with your local county Council and County officials.
Avon and Somerset Police are responsible for enforcing all speed limits on highways. Somerset County Council has no direct powers over speeds but maintains Speed Limit Traffic Restriction Orders, signs and lines.
If you consider traffic to be speeding on your road, it is always a good starting point to contact your Local Community Police Officer and county council to discuss your concerns. It may be possible to establish a locally run Community Speed Watch scheme.
From a road safety perspective, a new speed limit alone is unlikely to result in a significant drop in existing collision problems. Analysis of collisions in Somerset has not shown any site where the only collision cause is speed. If you consider traffic to be speeding on your road, contact your Local Community Police Officer, and county Council, to discuss your concerns. It may be possible to establish a locally run Community Speed Watch scheme.
Reviewing new and existing speed limits can take many months. Make contact with your county Area Traffic Engineer via County Hall telephone number and discuss your request. The Engineer will be able to talk through the many processes involved and, if appropriate, will arrange for traffic speed and volume counts to be taken, in addition to reviewing any relevant accident data.
