38th South African Transport Conference (SATC)
July 2019 – CSIR Convention Centre:
Attending at the South African Transport 
Conference on Wednesday the 11th July 2019, both Prof. Riaan Stopforth and I had the opportunity to present the two papers completed, Documenting a high speed, rear end, partial overlap crash test of a large sedan & stationary commercial trailer; and Experimental skid analysis of a vehicle on a gravel road.
Publication: EXPERIMENTAL SKID ANALYSIS OF A VEHICLE ON A GRAVEL ROAD.
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ompleting the presentation re
quirements to peers for the paper acceptance, the conference also provides the opportunity to renew acquaintances and likewise meeting others in various spheres of direct and indirectly related works. A vast array of transport related papers presented, some by individuals in private practice, some at municipal or governmental departments and others from Universities.
A
lthough there is always some level of argument to the contrary, I still fundamentally disagree with the researchers and presenters essentially having to facilitate their own costs of registration, accommodation, flights and other exorbitant costs. Although it is appreciated that finances in respect of sponsorships and backing, however termed, are not always readily available in current economic times, it is not just the “tight-belt” that is the quandary. The effort expended and data m
ade available through the author/s’ efforts of such works, should be keenly sought by all and welcomed with open arms and therefore direct costs to the author/s’ and presenters should be keenly maintained at absolute minimum costs by the event organisers. If this causes a knock-on effect of a lower number of papers presented, perhaps a two-day event against a three-day event, then this should seriously be considered.
R
iaan and I are currently busy with further joint research projects, one of which pertains loosely to issues of damages from impacts to vehicle windscreens. Another two research projects being considered by myself pertain generally to review of past serious crash statistics in South Africa, the other relating to issues of analysis of video footage and driver body language from In Vehicle monitoring.
Although we did not attend the full event, the day ran like clockwork, at an impeccable venue and facilities and with excellent food.
It is hoped that much is learned and considered from the many research papers presented and that this helps facilitate some level of improvement to the current rather catastrophic road safety figures that we see.
Safe driving.
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