Here’s the reason why all our social media feeds have been filled with cardboard cutout police cars the entire weekend.
Bakwena Platinum operates the N1 toll route between Pretoria and Bela Bela, and the N4 toll route from the capital to the country’s border with Botswana. As part of a drive safe campaign for the upcoming Easter weekend the company set up a cardboard cutout of a Metro Police car to remind people to slow down and not to drink and drive.
Metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said they were not responsible for the cutout and that they would be looking to collaborate with Bakwena Platinum in the future.
“My personal view is that it was quite successful. We got a lot of positive responses.” – Liam Clark of Bakwena Platinum.
Liam Clark said the company received approval for the Easter campaign from the Metro Police and it had been an effective campaign.
“Our main aim is to reduce fatalities on the roads,” – Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba
Holiday’s such as Easter weekend and the Festive season mean busy roads which are usually highly monitored by the Metro Police to ensure road safety as statistics for accidents and other road incidents are much higher than usual.
This tactic has proven effective in Bangalore, India too! In 2013 traffic officials strategically placed cardboard cutouts of police officers around the city to help decrease the amount of road violations, especially as poor law enforcement, untrained drivers and bad roads mean that India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries to drive in.
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