Festive season horror on roads as hundreds die
A staggering 767 people killed in just 18 days
IT WAS a bloody start to the festive season, with a staggering 767 people killed in just 18 days on South African roads.
With traffic volumes expected to increase dramatically from today as millions travel home or to holiday destinations, the road safety fraternity said it was “greatly concerned” as road deaths had increased by 16% compared to the same period last year.
The annual mid-festive season preliminary road-safety report released yesterday by Transport Minister Blade Nzimande, accompanied by board members of the Road Traffic Management Corporation in Pretoria, showed that KwaZulu-Natal had recorded the most deaths with 162, followed by Gauteng with 125 people killed.
Limpopo and Eastern Cape had 89 deaths each, while Mpumalanga had 82, the Western Cape 81, Free State 78, North West 57 and Northern Cape 24.
The report only looked at statistics involving road users from December 1 to 18.
It showed that road deaths had increased in all provinces except Gauteng.
“This is a very challenging and agonising period where young people are losing their lives on the roads.
“The most prevalent violations that caused crashes included excessive speeding, reckless and negligent driving which includes increased (incidents of) drinking and driving (and) blatant disregard of road rules,” Nzimande said.
A combination of fatigue and unroadworthy vehicles had become lethal, particularly on long-distance road trips, Nzimande added.
Pedestrian movement had also increased on freeways and roads in semi-urban, urban and built-up areas.
“My attention has today been brought to the suspension and disciplinary charges brought against a driver of one of the Intercape buses who was overtaking on a barrier line. This driver was exposed through a video clip taken by one of the passengers in the bus.
“We continue to urge passengers to be vigilant, especially about reckless driving exhibited by drivers on our roads, and report it,” Nzimande said.
It’s believed the coach was travelling from Cape Town to Durban.
A total number of 34 minibus vehicles and 44 trucks have been involved in deadly collisions since the start of the festive season.
The road-safety report also revealed that most incidents occurred between 7pm-8pm and 10pm-11pm. Most incidents occurred on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.
10 666 fines were issued for driving without driving licences and 9 620 fines for drivers who did not fasten their seatbelts.
Over 5 800 fines were issued for those driving vehicles with worn tyres and 3 039 for the overloading of goods.
To clamp down on drunk drivers, speeding and other road violations, officers arrested about 2 837 motorists. Of the arrests, 1109 were for drunken-driving.
The transport fraternity said consultations were under way to introduce a second driver protocol in the taxi industry to reduce the number of deaths caused by taxi operator fatigue.
Ndzimande said the national Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) roll-out would track down all reckless drivers and remove them from the road network.
Automobile Association spokesperson Layton Beard said she was very concerned with the high road death numbers.
“We support the minister’s call for tighter legislation to curb the recorded increase of fatalities on our roads. Those who are caught driving under the influence of alcohol will be arrested and charged on the spot, as there will be no waiting for test results,” he added.
Meanwhile, provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said authorities were adopting a “no-nonsense” approach this festive season and yesterday two minibus taxi drivers had been arrested for reckless and negligent driving.
METRORAIL said as seasonal patronage dwindled following school closures and business recess, its normal train service has been replaced by a Sunday service.
The annual festive season service adjustment kicks in on Monday, and will run until January 4.
Additional trains have been added on public holidays, including on December 26 and New Year’s Day.
Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott said, unfortunately the change created an increase in petty crime, because criminals capitalised on travellers carrying larger amounts of cash.
“To address this, Metrorail Protection Services will increase train and station patrols serving popular holiday spots. Special joint actions to curb contact crimes will also be conducted during the festive season.
“Tactical operations will address unlawful commuter conduct, unsafe commuting behaviour and focus on the protection of safety-critical rail infrastructure. Normal weekend services would resume on January 5, and normal weekday services resume on January 7,” Scott said.
Tips for safe festive travelling, Metrorail shared, include: avoid travelling with large amounts of cash, keep valuables out of sight, stay in well-lit and protected areas, move to fuller coaches and stay in a group if comfortable in the presence of members of the group, arrange with someone to accompany you from the station to your home if you travel after dark, and take care when wearing earphones as it can reduce awareness of surroundings.