10 killed in accidents over weekend
A FOUR-YEAR-OLD and a 18-year-old were among 10 people killed in road crashes in the Western Cape at the weekend.
Traffic chief Kenny Africa said an accident on Helen Suzman Boulevard between Beach Road and Vlei Road yesterday involving a motorcyclist and a car left the 33-year-old rider, as well as Ebrahim Patel, 4, and Zubair Esau, 18, in the sedan, dead.
On Friday, a 27-year-old pedestrian walking in Observatory was knocked down and killed, and on Saturday a 60-year-old pedestrian in Parow suffered the same fate.
“Five drivers were killed in accidents – one in Nyanga, one in Ceres, one in Hamlet, one in De Doorns, and one in Darling along the West Coast. We also had roadblocks during which 1 744 vehicles were stopped, and 775 were tested for alcohol,” Africa said.
Traffic officials had arrested 73 drunk drivers, with the highest reading three times over the limit.
Another person was arrested in Worcester for having false documents, while also in Worcester a driver was arrested for overloading his bakkie.
“We also fined 138 people for speeding, the highest was 195km/h in 120km/h zone on the N1 near Laingsburg,” Africa said.
Transport Minister Blade Nzimande last week announced the preliminary festive season road safety figures, showing the Western Cape had recorded the third-lowest number of road fatalities between December 1 and January 8. Nzimande said 1 286 accidents were recorded in the 2018/19 festive season, resulting in 1 612 fatalities.
Gauteng and North West were the only two provinces to record decreases in the number of fatalities, while the Northern Cape, Free State and Eastern Cape had recorded the highest-percentage increases.