Skip to main content

DEKRA promotes road safety in South Africa

Speaking to representatives from the South African Department of Transport, the Parliament and the South African automotive industry at a working lunch in Pretoria, Clemens Klinke, head of German service company DEKRA’s automotive business unit, called for the issue of road safety to be given high priority. “Road safety is a key factor for the development of emerging economies. Safe mobility will be crucial for economic momentum here in South Africa,” he said. Klinke outlined the positive developments
January 29, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Speaking to representatives from the South African Department of Transport, the Parliament and the South African automotive industry at a working lunch in Pretoria, Clemens Klinke, head of German service company 7114 DEKRA’s automotive business unit, called for the issue of road safety to be given high priority.

“Road safety is a key factor for the development of emerging economies. Safe mobility will be crucial for economic momentum here in South Africa,” he said.

Klinke outlined the positive developments on road fatalities in Europe since the 1970s, saying that South Africa could benefit from many of the measures taken in Europe to improve road safety, such as vehicle inspections.

In December 2014 alone, more than 1,100 people were killed on South Africa’s roads.
 
EU ambassador Roland van de Geer, who hosted the lunch, also emphasised that the level of 16,000 traffic fatalities per year was no longer acceptable for South Africa. He also highlighted the importance of the country for the continent as a whole. “South Africa serves as an example. The EU will take this event as an opportunity to work together with the South African ministries and DEKRA to improve road safety,” he said.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Autonomous driving – what can we really expect?
    June 6, 2016
    Dave Marples of Technolution BV looks beyond the hype to the practical implementation of autonomous vehicles. Having looked at the development of this sector for some time, I am concerned about the current state of autonomous driving development as engineering (and marketing) have run way ahead of the wider systemic, and legislative, requirements to support an autonomous future.
  • UK ‘pauses’ smart motorway roll-out
    January 12, 2022
    All-lane running motorway schemes to be halted until five years' safety data is available
  • TRL develops vehicle safety standards for Europe
    February 28, 2019
    Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has developed new vehicle safety standards which it claims will save 25,000 lives and assist European countries in the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Matthias Seidl, senior researcher - vehicle safety & regulation at TRL, says the advanced safety measures will protect all road users. “Intelligent speed assistance and drowsiness and distraction recognition will support drivers in their ongoing tasks, autonomous emergency braking and emergency lane keeping wi
  • Kapsch says US purchase will have world-wide impact
    June 3, 2014
    Peter Ummenhofer, head of the ITS Business Unit at Kapsch TrafficCom, discusses what the recent acquisition of US ATMS specialist Transdyn will mean for the company and the ITS sector. Even a brief perusal of Kapsch’s portfolio lends credence to the company’s assertion that it is more than ‘just a tolling systems and services supplier’. Over the past few years, the company has added road safety enforcement to its offering with significant commercial vehicle operations capabilities, including weigh in motion