Holiday road deaths down
2008-12-29 14:04
Johannesburg - The festive season road accident death toll has been nearly halved in 2008, down to 774 fatalities compared to last year's 1 474, the transport department said on Monday.
"Seven hundred and seventy four people have died from 596 reported crashes on our roads," said spokesperson Collen Msibi.
The statistics referred to the month of December to date.
"The decrease is attributed to heightened enforcement operations and heavy traffic police presence on our roads since the start of the festive season."
Of those that died on South African roads, 222 were drivers, 307 were passengers and 245 pedestrians.
KwaZulu-Natal recorded the most fatalities at 144, followed by Limpopo with 129 fatalities, Gauteng with 117 and Mpumalanga with 107 fatalities. Free State had 74 fatalities, the Eastern Cape had 65 and the Western Cape 62.
North West recorded 51 deaths on the road while the Northern Cape apparently had the safest roads with 25 fatalities.
Msibi said police had been conducting stop and checks to ensure cars on the road were roadworthy, impounding them if they were not and ensuring drivers were sober.
He said most of the accidents had occurred because of speeding, disobeying road laws like overtaking on barrier lines and fatigued drivers.
"With New Year around the corner plans are being sharpened to deal with all forms of reckless driving and suspected drunken driving cases.
"If found under the influence of alcohol you have no option of paying a fine until you have sobered up and appeared in court."
The department said it encouraged passengers to wear seat belts, drivers to slow down, to not overtake other vehicles recklessly and to take care when visibility was low at night.
On Monday, Netcare 911 said that over the Christmas long weekend, from midnight on Thursday December 25 until 23:59 on Sunday December 28, it had responded to 292 collisions throughout South Africa.
Spokesperson Nick Dollman said emergency vehicles were dispatched to 253 motor vehicle accidents and 39 pedestrian collisions.
Netcare responded to 87 accidents in Gauteng of which 15 were pedestrian collisions and the rest involved only motor vehicles.
Seventy eight accidents, including 12 pedestrian collisions, were attended to by Netcare 911 in Kwazulu-Natal.
The paramedic service responded to 46 accidents including four pedestrian collisions in the combined Cape area.
It also responded to 22 accidents in Limpopo, including three pedestrian collisions; as well as 19 motor vehicle collisions in the Free State.
- SAPA