The Department of Transport, in collaboration with Engen, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and Youth in Road Safety launched #Ridewise, a Festive Season Road Safety Campaign at the Engen Grasmere 1-Stop (South) in Gauteng on Saturday, 3 December.

The initiative is aimed at increasing awareness around the dangers of texting and driving, driver fatigue and speeding and the impact it has on motorists and pedestrians.

#Ridewise will be rolled out over a one-year period from December 2016 to November 2017, with ten activations hosted over this time. There will be a special focus over high traffic periods such as the Festive Season, Easter holidays and in October 2017, National Transport Month.

On board to communicate driver safety messages to young South African drivers between the ages of 18-34 are well known celebrity DJ’s, Dr Malinga and DJ Zinhle who will entertain motorists at Engen service stations and engage in a series of fun games and other cool activations. Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, will be actively involved in the campaign. Motorists are encouraged to look out for the Minister at select Engen service stations around the country this Festive Season, where she will help fill up cars and share key safety messages with motorists.

Engen General Manager: Corporate Affairs, Tasneem Sulaiman-Bray says Engen is very excited to be part of #Ridewise. “We believe that this worthy initiative will reduce unnecessary risk taking and change driver behaviour, ensuring increased road safety awareness, whilst making a meaningful difference to the lives of all South African road users.”

Sulaiman-Bray says motorists and pedestrians share the responsibility of keeping themselves and others on the road safe. “A high portion of road fatalities in South Africa are pedestrian. Many of these people are victims of reckless driving where they are killed or injured through no fault of their own. This is why Engen believes road safety is everyone’s business and why as a proud South African company we feel duty-bound to support road safety initiatives such as #Ridewise.”

Engen’s Corporate Social Investment Manager, Mntu Nduvane says that Engen's focus on health and safety is entrenched in every aspect of the company’s operations and an integral part of their social investment efforts. “Our Engen Driver Wellness campaign, which targets truck drivers by providing free health screenings, is another of our initiatives that promotes driver safety.”

Adds Nduvane: “Texting while driving is a serious problem and cause of accidents especially among our younger drivers. Education will help remind our country’s drivers how life choices, such as driving while texting can have a serious impact on their safety and the safety of other drivers and pedestrians on the road.”