Arrive Alive cuts statistics

2003-12-08 11:06

Tisha Steyn

Cape Town - Arrive Alive won't be making road accident statistics available on a daily basis this holiday season.

Wendy Watson, of Arrive Alive's information centre in Pretoria, said the decision was made to "humanise" road accidents, and not to "sensationalise" the number of road accidents and deaths.

"In future more emphasis would be placed on the tragic consequences of negligent or reckless road behaviour," she said.

In a move supported by government, Arrive Alive would instead make available information about trouble spots along the country's roads and the main causes of accidents. In the past, the number of road accidents and deaths were updated on a daily basis, and often even several times a day.

Statistics would be made available only on a Wednesday, if such statistics were available. It would be offered in context, and not as "sensational figures", Watson said.

She said last year, inaccurate information given to the media showed an "increase of 25% in road accidents, while in fact the number of accidents had decreased".

"We are not going to give 'cricket score' kind of information," she said.

Watson said holiday traffic has been steadily building up since Friday, with traffic increasing on the main routes from Gauteng to Cape Town, Durban and the Northern Province.

Danger existed at road works near Beaufort West in the Karoo, Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal,and north of Mossel Bay in the southern Cape.

There have been road accidents, but no statistics were available, she said.

- News24