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18 April 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba
Be Safe on road
Be safe on the roads: Prevention is better than a hospital ward or coffin.

Safety starts with you, non-compliance ends you. A traffic spike over the Easter holidays does not justify disobeying road rules. The university is counting on all students, both drivers and pedestrians, to continue prioritising safety on the roads.

Don’t be a statistic, take responsibility
The 2018 Preliminary Easter Road Safety Report issued by the Department of Transport, indicated that most accidents were caused by irresponsibility.  “In 2018, human factor contributed 89,5% to crashes as compared to the 74,3% in 2017. The number of jay-walking pedestrians killed on our roads also increased to 38% as compared to 25,2% in 2017,” said Minister of Transport, Blade Nzimande.

The university implores you to play a role in reducing these numbers in 2019.

On driving and cellphones
According to Arrive Alive, the use of communication devices while driving is prohibited. “No person shall drive a vehicle on a public road while holding a cellular or mobile telephone or any other communication device in one or both hands or with any other part of the body, unless such a device is affixed to the vehicle or is part of the fixture in the vehicle.”

Pedestrian duties
Pedestrians are encouraged to practice caution when using sidewalks and while crossing the road. When walking, face oncoming traffic and pay attention to traffic signs so as not to constitute a source of danger to yourself or to traffic.

Safe speed saves lives
A general speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour shall apply to all public roads within urban areas, 100 kilometres per hour on public roads, and 120 kilometres per hour on freeways. Abide by these speed limits, unless stated otherwise by traffic signs.

More tips on drunken driving, wearing seat belts, and other aspects of road safety are easily available on the Arrive Alive website.

News Archive

British Academic visits UFS
2011-04-14

Dr Wayne Dooling
Photo: Gerda-Marie Viviers

Dr Wayne Dooling , a senior lecturer at the University of London in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), gave a lecture at the University of the Free State (UFS) on Tuesday. This lecture was presented in conjunction with the UFS’s Department of History. The lecture was on violence and Colonial Law in Southern Africa. “Dutch law was characterised by force and violence,” said Dr Dooling in his introduction of the topic. 

In his lecture Dr Dooling spoke about how Colonial Law worked and how the African legal systems were suppressed by European Law. “One of the biggest achievements European Governments sought was to get African societies and Africans to come around to European ways of wrongdoing,” said Dr Dooling .  He said that African courts did not just disappear; they continued to exist. The reason for Africans to use and rely on European courts was that they were dissatisfied with their own courts.  African laws were not fixed; they benefited only a few and were often violated.

Dr Dooling is currently an Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the SOAS. He has authored two books, namely: Slavery, emancipation and Colonial rule in South Africa and Law and community in a slave society.

14 April 2011

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