Novice driver training within the South African NRSS 2030

Abstract

Novice drivers, worldwide, have a significant risk of being fatally or seriously injured in a road traffic crash. South African statistics show that novice driver crashes (over a three-year period) represent approximately a tenth of all driver fatalities. As a signatory to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 (UNDoA), South Africa has pledged to halve road traffic crashes by 2020 from the 2010 baseline. To achieve a systematic reduction in road traffic deaths, the South African Department of Transport (DoT) published the revised National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) 2016-2030. Developed and designed according to the principles of the Safe Systems approach, the NRSS aims to address the South African road safety problem by prioritising road safety interventions, ensuring appropriate allocation of resources and funds for the design and implementation of actions and strategies to address the dire road safety situation in South Africa. Evidence based research, needs to inform the type and direction of the interventions implemented. The NRSS mentions learner driver training only briefly and there are no clear guidelines on how to address novice driver training within the NRSS framework. This paper provides an overview of competencies acquired while learning to drive and makes recommendations for a more inclusive approach to address novice driver training in the quest for a safe road and traffic system.