14 dead on Ekurhuleni roads this season
2013-01-05 18:51
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Johannesburg
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Johannesburg - Fourteen people have died on Ekurhuleni's road during the festive season, the municipality's disaster and emergency management service said on Saturday.
The worst accident happened in the early hours of December 15 when a VW Golf went off the road and slammed into a tree, killing six, said William Ntladi.
The Golf was travelling on the N3 south-bound at the Geldenhuis interchange at the time of the accident.
"[The] VW Golf carrying seven adults broke into two pieces after the impact leaving bodies lying... all over [the road] and at least one survived with serious injuries," Ntladi said.
He added that no major fires or natural disasters were reported.
However, there had been flooding in the southern part of the municipality with several houses flooded in the Katlehong area.
The festive season death toll on the nation's roads has risen to 1 300, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said on Saturday.
"Although these are not the official figures I can confirm that we have lost 1 300 people since the beginning of the festive season.
"At the moment 40 people die on our roads per day," said RTMC spokesperson Ashref Ismail.
He said the main causes for the road fatalities were excessive speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and walking while drunk.
"We need to change our mindset, we can't continue like this. We can't keep on losing 40 people per day. It costs the economy more than R300bn a year," said Ismail.
He urged road users to be patient and exercise caution as traffic volumes were expected to continue to increas on the country's major roads.
- SAPA
