Road Crash Investigator

The purpose of this qualification is to prepare a learner to operate as a Road Crash Investigator. A road crash investigator adopts an analytical approach to plan, assess, interpret causes of road crashes through the establishment and co-ordinating of incident management teams and providing evidence to support the judicial process. A qualified learner will be able to: • Examine vehicles involved in a road crash for compliance and fitness pre-crash. • Reconstruct the road crash scene. • Analyse and interpret evidence obtained from the vehicle/s, road, and external factors as well as from interviewing occupants and witnesses. • Authenticate and verify photographic and/or videographic evidence, draft on field sketch plan/plan and key thereto, and complete Accident Report form and scene reports. • Present evidence for civil and/or criminal litigation.

The need for this qualification stems from the necessity to standardise the training and work performed by the road crash investigators across the country. In terms of the state of road safety in the country, South Africa continues to experience one of the highest road death rates in the world by far. Given this context it is imperative that road crash investigators fully understand the complexity of road safety to be effective problem solvers in their field. On the contrary, there is a fragmented approach when it comes to road crash investigation across the country. The same road crashes are investigated by different stakeholders namely, (Municipal/Metro Police and Provincial Traffic Departments, South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) as well as various private road crash investigators. The current crash investigators are at arguably varying skills with duplication of functions in various authorities across due to the absence of a formal qualification. This qualification will assist in standardizing the training and will increase capacity for road crash investigation across the country. Currently, due to capacity constraints only major road crashes wherein three or more fatalities are involved are being prioritised for investigation. Therefore, the introduction of an NQF registered qualification will provide a formal credit-bearing qualification that will ensure that trainees are trained following the same investigative principles and techniques. This will harmonise the processes of road crash investigation across the various government institutions and private sector through a common NQF registered curriculum. Consequently, this will allow evidence-based research, traffic engineering advancements, legislative amendments, enhanced law enforcement operations and road safety education programmes. The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) is mandated by the National Road Traffic Act, Act 93 of 1996 and the Road Traffic Management Corporation Act, Act 20 of 1999 to ensure road safety in South Africa. The RTMC, being the lead agency in road traffic, confirmed the need for the development of a qualification for Road Crash Investigators as an integral part of achieving the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Human Resource Development Strategy South Africa (HRDS SA). This qualification responds to the government priorities of reducing injury, accidents, and violence by 50% from the 2010 baseline and strengthen the justice system as well as ensuring a developmental and capable state. This qualification will equip current and prospective road crash investigators who wish to enter this field with the necessary skills knowledge and understanding to effectively understand the complexity of road crash investigation. The exit level outcomes of this qualification makes it a unique one with currently no similar qualification registered on the NQF to achieve the same outcomes. There is currently no formal registered qualification available for a Road Crash Investigator except the informal and non-credit training offered by the SAPS, RTMC and some private and independent road crash investigators. The Road Crash Investigators working in the field are forced to undergo local un-accredited short training courses focusing on specific areas of the Road Crash Investigation field for self-development. These short training courses are extremely limited which means that to further their skills in the field these practitioners are obliged to register for overseas short training courses in this field. The benefit to the road crash investigation fraternity will be a pool of highly trained and skilled road crash investigators in implementing road incident management system, road crash evidence collection and documentation from various perspectives, and presentation of evidence in the court of law. The economy will grow as more ethical and legally compliant road crash investigators will be deployed to investigate the unacceptably high levels of road carnage on our public roads. Detailed road crash investigation reports will provide road safety orientated recommendations to road engineers when constructing roads. This will in turn, contribute to minimising the road carnage caused by poorly constructed roads which costs the South African economy in the region of R300 billion per annum. It is envisaged that the detailed road crash investigation reports to be compiled by the road crash investigators trained from this qualification will also assist the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and the insurance companies in curbing the fraudulent claims and unjustifiable pay-outs. It will also provide valuable information to improve roads and road infrastructure which will in turn benefit the economy by providing employment to individuals. Society will also benefit from safer roads emanating from recommendations made in detailed reports to address problems identified in relation to road infrastructure, law enforcement and road safety initiatives. Detailed road crash investigation reports will also assist the judicial process in the successful adjudicating of criminal and civil litigation emanating from road crashes. Proper road crash investigation will ensure that the correct recommendations are made to the relevant stakeholder so that the losses to society caused by road crashes are prevented. The overall benefit to the society will be a reduction in trauma and suffering to road crash victims and their dependants since less road crashes might be experienced than it is currently the case. The typical learners are the new entrants with an interest in road crash investigation as well as currently practising road crash investigators with no formal qualification. Learners who successfully complete this qualification will be eligible to operate as Road Crash Investigators. No registration with any professional body is envisaged since there is currently no professional body approved and recognized by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) currently in this field.

RPL for Access to the Qualification • Learners will gain access to the qualification through RPL for Access as provided for in the QCTO RPL Policy. RPL for access is conducted by accredited education institution, skills development provider or is workplace accredited to offer that specific qualification/part qualification. • Learners who have acquired competencies of the modules of a qualification or part qualification will be credited for modules through RPL. RPL for access to the external integrated summative assessment: Accredited providers and approved workplaces must apply the internal assessment criteria specified in the related curriculum document to establish and confirm prior learning. Accredited providers and workplaces must confirm prior learning by issuing a statement of result. Entry Requirements: • An NQF Level 4 qualification.

• Evaluate and interpret appropriate methods, procedures or techniques for compliance of vehicles involved in crash.
• Apply mathematical science and formulae to measure and calculate vehicle dynamics and damages.
• Process, manage and evaluate the road crash evidence from various perspectives.
• Produce Road crash evidence from various perspectives.
• Produce and communicate complex information reliably and coherently using appropriate formats and technologies for a given context.