The eThekwini Municipality has partnered with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to provide training for the Metro Police Officers on High Visibility Enforcement to improve road safety in the city ahead of the upcoming Easter and School holidays.
The training provided by the founder of the Conduce sin Alcohol programme from Mexico Dr. Othon Sanchez has kicked off in Durban with various Metro police units.
The training is aimed at addressing drinking and driving, commitment to the “Drive Dry” campaign – meaning driving without alcohol consumption in the hope of reducing fatalities on the road.
The Durban Metro police officers will be out in full force during the coming Easter holiday.
Now equipped with knowledge imported from the Conduce sin Alcohol the city hopes to reduce road crashes.
Speaking during the launch of the programme eThekwini municipality Chairperson of Governance and Human Resources Committee chairperson Barbara Fortein says all stakeholders need to put more focus in ensuring road fatalities are reduced.
Fortein says: “Governments, academia, business and civil society should continue to do more in the following areas improve behavioral risk that is for road traffic injuries, strengthen law and enforcement, design roads that address the needs of the most vulnerable road users, with the objective of having open engagements.”
“The eThekwini municipality is committed in working with all stakeholders to change road users behaviour.”
Estrella Merlos the Associate Director of United Nations Institute for Training and Research says globally road accidents kill a lot of people each year.
“We have heard that 15 million people are injured out of traffic crashes and 1.2 million die globally related to traffic crashes every year. This is something not simple it is a burden on our economies more than that the lives of young people are taken each day if we divide 1.2 million by 365 days today 3000 people would have died.’
Sanchez the founder of the Conduce sin Alcohol programme says his programme has ability to reduce accidents.
