3M™ Traffic Safety Division (TSD) hosted a Road Safety Workshop on 15 March 2017 at the 3M™ offices in Woodmead, Johannesburg.
Ismail Vadi, Gauteng MEC for Transport, delivered a keynote address. Steve Proctor, a globally-known road safety engineer and trainer from established, independent, road safety consultancy, Traffic Management Safety (TMS), delivered an interactive presentation. TMS Consultancy currently undertakes independent road safety studies, write guidelines, carry out road safety audits and inspections, and run training courses throughout the UK, Europe, and the wider world.
About the workshop
The workshop presentation outlined the “safe system approach” to road safety and indicated the scale of the problem in South Africa, provided an overview of collision causation and the need to collect good data; as well as how to identify collision problems through statistical analysis and to determine low-cost solutions. Case studies of solutions involving road signs and markings were highlighted, and reference was made to the benefits of implementing credible and effective national standards for Road Traffic Signs and Road Markings. The workshop also reviewed of the European Directive on Road Safety Infrastructure Management that requires all EU Member States to implement a low cost measures programme, which would be a system of great value to South Africa in reducing the number of lives lost and people maimed in road accidents. 3M delivered a brief overview of retro-reflective technology, highlighting the Black Spots program aimed at improving reflectivity on designated places where the number of crashes that are likely to occur are higher than average. The day concluded with a tour of the Customer Innovation Centre, showcasing 3M technologies, and a drive through tour of various reflective solutions that had been discussed and presented during the Road Safety Workshop.
