Road accidents cost R38bn/y
2005-12-20 22:10
Liezel Joubert
Johannesburg - Road accidents cost the economy about R38bn a year, says transport spokesperson Collen Msibi.
"This money could rather have been spent on, for example, health care if motorists would just listen," he said in Tuesday.
Msibi said there were about 12 300 road deaths last year.
"The minister of transport as well as the MECs for transport in all the provinces have taken a stance of 'zero tolerance, zero chances and zero mercy' with regard to road safety this festive season.
"This policy will apply throughout the year," Msibi said.
He said success could be measured in the lower number of speed offences in certain provinces.
"The number of speed offences in Gauteng normally averages about 140 000 per half-month," says traffic spokesperson for Gauteng Hennie Bezuidenhout.
"But this month it's dropped to about 82 000."
Bid to reduce speed offences
Bezuidenhout ascribes this success to the visibility of traffic officials and law enforcement on Gauteng's roads.
Although there are still about 400 000 speeding offences per month in Gauteng, Bezuidenhout says law enforcement is reducing this number.
"I blame the car manufacturers' advertisements.
"Speed and power are the main focus in these ads and send the wrong message to motorists," he says.
The number of speed offences in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has also declined compared with this time last year, with about 15 600 speeding offences for the month to date.
"Motorists are eventually getting the message that breaking the law will not be tolerated.
"No excuses or explanations will be accepted if motorists don't behave themselves," says KZN traffic spokesperson Colin Govender, about this province's three-year zero tolerance campaign.
Govender says KZN always increases the number of traffic cops on the roads during December.
"We have now set a standard for law enforcement, specifically on the roads," he added.
Msibi said he hoped the time would come when the zero tolerance policy was no longer necessary.
"The ideal is that people obey the laws 100%.
"We appeal to motorists to drive responsibly,"
he said.
- Beeld