Winners of Road Safety Art Competition announced

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) today announced the winners of the first annual Road Safety Art Competition.

The competition is aimed at engaging the youth to express their thoughts on responsible road behaviour. This in turn will assist in entrenching responsible road behaviour in the learners at a young age.

"Sanral supports the initiatives of the National Department of Transport with our road safety campaign called ChekiCoast - save a life, which was launched in April 2013. The campaign was launched in various forms at universities and schools in South Africa as well as on Facebook. CheckiCoast aims to ensure correct road user behaviour for drivers and pedestrians. Our messages are focused on buckling up; don't drink and drive/walk; don't text and walk; be bright at night and keeping a safe following distance," said Sanral CEO Nazir Alli.

The competition was divided into categories for the different grades. The categories were as follows:

* Grade 1-3: Hey ho watch where you go (rules of the road; travelling to school and back; safe crossings; pedestrian traffic signals; safe places to play).

* Grade 4-6: Stuck in the middle with you (adhering to the rules of the road; saying no to peer pressure; adhering to rules and regulations regardless of peers' behaviour; correct road safety choices).

* Grade 7-9: We are free to choose our paths, but we can't choose the consequences that come with them (types of substance abuse; prevention of drug abuse; consequences of your actions; consequences of drug abuse on road safety choices).

* Grade 10-12: Find a purpose to serve, not a lifestyle to live (a positive role in society; your role as a safe road user; responding correctly to life's responsibilities; conflict resolution in traffic related situations).

The winners of each category as well as the overall winner were announced at the awards. Each category winner was awarded R5 000 in vouchers and the overall winner received a R25 000 cash award.

"We congratulate all the winners. As Sanral, we are hopeful that the learners will use the experience gained in this competition. Being responsible on the road must be encouraged from an early age. This is what this competition aims to do," concluded Alli.