Jean Todt took time out of his busy schedule as president of the FIA to visit South Africa in his other role as the UN’s special envoy for road safety, criticising the local arms of certain brands for selling new vehicles without ABS or airbags as standard.
Todt’s visit formed part of the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) being held in Cape Town in a bid to improve road safety.
We had the chance to interview this automotive legend to get his views on South Africa’s unique situation.
Before Todt stepped on stage, the video below, which was shot in South Africa, was played on the screen to set the tone (please note this is not for sensitive viewers as it contains real CCTV camera footage at the end)…
First, the shocking statistics
- 1,3 million people die in traffic related incidents globally every year (50 million related injuries)
- 500 children die every day on the roads globally
- Road crashes are the eighth biggest killer in the world
- 90% of global road deaths happen in developing countries such as ours
- 15 000 people lose their lives on our roads every year (that’s more than 40 a day)
- Road crashes cost the South African economy R143-billion per year
- One thousand times more money is spend on AIDS than on road safety
Q&A with Jean Todt
CAR: There appears to be a conflict between your illustrious racing history, being president of the FIA and campaigning for road safety?
Todt: All is about discipline. On a Formula One circuit, all is controlled and the average speed may be over 200 km/h, but the speed limit in the pit lane is only 80 km/h. If a car drives at 81 km/h down the pit lane, the team is severely penalised with a stop-and-go penalty that would ruin its race. Road safety is also about discipline. Safety has improved tremendously in motorsport over the last decades as well.
CAR: The road safety action plan from the GRSP involves six safety conventions that include infrastructure changes, safety technology on new vehicles and periodical technical inspections of vehicles. Some of these actions will take money and time to implement. What can South Africa do to improve road safety right now?
Todt: I am convinced that simple actions like wearing a safety belt, wearing a helmet, stopping drink driving, stopping speeding and education on road safety can cut South African road fatalities by half.
CAR: What do you think of new vehicles sold in South Africa without ABS or airbags?
Todt: It is unacceptable. We are meeting with manufacturers to get [their] buy-in for minimum safety requirements on cars. Electronic stability control and ABS are not that expensive on mass-produced vehicles. Some manufacturers will rather offer an uprated infotainment system than safety systems.
CAR: What will be the impact on road safety of future technologies such as autonomous vehicles?
Todt: This technology will only help first world countries, but not developing countries in the near future. Remember that 90% of road deaths happen in developing countries. It does not help that first-world countries off-load their older carpark of vehicles without the required safety systems to some developing countries.
