Freeway crashes plummet

The number increased from only 33 in April to 60 in May, but remains lower than in 2019

THE CAPE Town freeway management system recorded the lowest number of crashes in eight years in April when most movement was prohibited during alert level 5 of the national lockdown.

Transport mayco member Felicity Purchase said the City’s transport directorate had been collating data for the N1, the N2, a section of the N7 and M5 freeways since the start of the lockdown on March 27.

In April the number of crashes decreased from 223 in March to only 33.

This was the lowest since the inception of the Freeway Management System (FMS) in 2012, according to the City’s statistics.

“At least 23 light injuries were recorded and no fatalities, while on average, 19 fatalities were recorded per month since April 2019.”

The City said there was not a single crash involving a pedestrian in April, when on average there were 15 pedestrian crashes per month from March last year to March this year.

The City said the number of crashes increased from 33 in April to 60 in May, but was still significantly lower than the average of 240 crashes per month recorded for the past year.

According to the stats, 15 light injuries were recorded, and one fatality, with two crashes involving pedestrians.

“We can confirm that the weekday traffic counts on these roads dropped between 75% and 80% in April. However, the volumes increased significantly in May from around 20% to 40% of the traffic volumes seen before the pandemic,” Purchase said.

She said in June traffic volumes increased further to about 65% of the normal weekday levels as more people returned to work with the easing of the regulations related to level 3 of the lockdown.

“Much of the City’s priorities are now focused on limiting the spread of Covid-19. Commuters are continuously reminded about the mandatory wearing of masks, regular hand washing, use of hand sanitiser and social distancing,” said Purchase.

Purchase said the statistics recorded by the Cape Town Freeway Management System – jointly funded by the City, the Western Cape Government, and Sanral – are invaluable in detecting these changes.

According to Sanral, road safety is about more than just reducing the number of crashes involving fatalities and injuries. “The FMS is permanently monitoring nearly 180km of the busiest freeways in the Western Cape. This includes sections of the N1, N2, N7, R300 and M5,” Sanral said.

Purchase said the freeway management system was operational 24/7, with operators doing visual surveillance of 179km of freeways to detect incidents, to report to the relevant authorities, and to provide up-to-date information to road users.

“There are currently 262 CCTV cameras and nine weather stations measuring temperature, humidity and wind speeds along the major freeways around Cape Town. The cameras and weather stations are used to monitor incidents and road conditions as far as the Du Toitskloof Pass between Paarl and Worcester,” she said.

Premier Alan Winde said they had worked closely with the police, traffic and law enforcement to ensure that alert level restrictions were implemented.

Purchase said messages about incidents were displayed on the 49 variable message signs located along the freeways.

“The FMS is permanently monitoring nearly 180km of the busiest freeways

Felicity Purchase

TRANSPORT MAYCO MEMBER