Two crashes push EC road death toll to 195

Separate accidents on R61 claim two more lives – seven others injured

The death toll on the province’s roads has climbed to 195 after two people died in two separate car accidents on Friday morning.

Eastern Cape department of transport spokesman Unathi Binqose said both accidents occurred on the R61 near Cradock.

“The first accident occurred between Cradock and Tarkastad where two vehicles [an Aveo and an Avanza] collided head-on.

“One person died on impact while five others sustained injuries in the crash. “The injured were rushed to a hospital in Cradock for medical attention,” Binqose said.

In the second incident, a sedan with six occupants overturned after a driver lost control on the R61 between Cradock and GraaffReinet. One person died on impact while two others sustained serious injuries.

“They have been rushed to a hospital in Cradock. Dockets of culpable homicide have been opened for each of the accidents,”

Binqose said.

The accidents come as people return home as the festive season draws to a close. The number of fatalities has declined slightly so far this season compared to the 220 deaths during the 2016-17 festive season.

Binqose said that human error had been by far the major cause of the accidents since the beginning of December.

These were mostly as a result of:

● Reckless driving;

● Drunken driving;

● Speeding;

● Overtaking on a barrier line; and

● Fatigued drivers who refused to listen to their body’s demand for a rest.

“As we enter the last phase of our festive season campaign with people returning to their workplace and school, extra vigilance is what we are calling for from all our roadusers.

“We urge them to take collective responsibility for their safety on the roads and for passengers to take charge and not keep quiet when they see a driver putting their lives at risk,” Binqose said.

Meanwhile, there were no drownings reported on Wild Coast beaches Port St Johns National Sea Rescue station commander John Costello said.

“It’s been a very quiet season. We’ve had no drownings at all. We had a lot of people though. The municipality did excellent crowd control,” he said.

Costello commended the municipality for preventing drownings in the area.

“There were more life guards and the municipality of Port St Johns introduced a lot of discipline into the area. There was good leadership, good discipline and implementation of that. There were thousands of people, but the municipality did well,” he said.

The Dispatch reported eight drownings in East London and one near drowning last week.

NSRI East London spokesperson Geoff McGregor said this week that there had been no more drownings.

There were more life guards and the municipality of Port St Johns introduced a lot of discipline into the area