Cause Index

See and Be Seen

See and Be Seen is an organisation that aims raise awareness of pedestrian safety and proactively prevent road accidents, through educating people about traffic safety and safety reflectors.

* As you may know,
* Around 14 000 people die on South African roads every year,
* of which approximately 40% are pedestrians (incl. runners and cyclists).
* about 65 % of all fatal pedestrian accidents happens at night.
* The risk of a vehicle hitting a pedestrian increases by 1100% between the hours of Dusk and Dawn.
* The risk of getting hit by a car during hours of bad visibility decreases by 85% if the pedestrian is wearing a
safety reflector!
* Thus, 85 % or more than 3 000 of pedestrian fatalities in South Africa can be avoided!
* Wearing a safety reflector dramatically increases the visibility of a pedestrian at night, giving motorists more
time to react.
* Each fatal pedestrian accident costs South Africa around R4 million, without accounting for the indirect costs to
society.
* A driver killing a pedestrian at night may may be charged with Culpable homicide
* Road deaths are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 29.

If safety reflectors become commonly used among pedestrians/cyclists and runners in South Africa, almost 3 000 lives and more than R11billion in tax money can be saved annually. Five thousand children will also have their parents alive.

Statistics indicate that even though there are less people moving in traffic at night, 65 % of all fatal pedestrian accidents happen between dusk and dawn. This is because under normal dark conditions a pedestrian walking on the side of a road is only visible to a driver from a distance of 10 to 60 meters. However, if a pedestrian is wearing a safety reflector they are visible from a distance of up to 160 meters. (The braking distance of a car traveling at 30km/h is 10.7 meters, and a car traveling at 120km/h has a braking distance of 108 meters)

Safety refectory may be the most effective and cheapest life insurance a person can get yet most people in South Africa do not know what a safety reflector is. See and be Seen is aiming to educate people about safety reflectors and encourage the use of safety reflectors. We believe that the use of safety reflectors can drastically reduce the number of fatalities and injuries sustained in traffic. The consequence of this would be the saving of thousands of pedestrian / runner and cyclist lives every year.

The increased use of safety reflectors will reduce the risk of a motorist being involved in an accident reducing criminal charges, insurance claims and court costs not to mention the emotional pain and the inconvenience of hitting a pedestrian. If a driver kills a pedestrian at night the driver may be charged for Culpable Homicide, despite that 8 of 10 drivers never saw the pedestrian before they hitting them.

You can use the safety reflectors to promote your company by giving out reflectors with your name and logo on them or an specific message you want to cure with the people! and at the same time help to make the roads a safer place for all!

Click here to make a donation now