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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

Inaugural lecture focuses on Plant Pathology
2005-08-16

Prof Neal Mc Laren, from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Plant Pathology, will deliver his inaugural lecture on Wednesday 17 August 2005 at 19:00 in the CR Swart Auditorium on campus.

The topic of the lecture is Beyond the pathogen:  revisited”.

Prof Mc Laren obtained his B Sc, B Sc (Hons) and M Sc (Agric) at the University of Natal and    Ph D (Plant Pathology) from the University of Pretoria.  In 1977 he was appointed as a research technician at the former Department of Agricultural Technical Services, was promoted to professional officer in 1983 and in 1995 to specialist scientist at the Agricultural Research Council.  In 2003 he was appointed as Associate Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Plant Sciences at the UFS and in 2005 as a full-time Professor of Plant Pathology. 

Prof Mc Laren has published 32 papers in accredited scientific journals or refereed proceedings which include two feature articles.  He also has three book chapters to his credit.  He has presented 35 local and 18 international conference papers and has been an invited/keynote speaker on a number of occasions.  He has published 26 popular articles, co-supervised several post-graduate students and been an examiner of a number of dissertations/theses.   He has acted as referee for numerous journal articles and was associate editor for African Plant Protection. In 1998 he received the ARC-President’s Award and in 1999, an award from the Sorghum Producers Organisation of the USA for outstanding research.

Prof Mc Laren’s principle area of interest has been diseases of sorghum with emphasis on ergot, damping-off and seedling blights, root rots and grain molds.  In addition, root rots of maize and more recently, soybean rust have received attention.  He has a particular interest in quantitative epidemiology.  

For any enquiries, please contact Ms Joan Nel at (051) 401-9301.

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel:  (051) 401-2584
   Cell:  083 645 2454
   E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

16 August 2005
 

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