Holiday road accidents claim over 500 lives already!
At least 500 people have lost their live as a result of holiday road accidents and this number is expected to increase as the festive season continues.
Interventions and pleas by the authorities – urging drivers to take responsibility when they’re on the road and to drive cautiously – have gone unheard, as the death toll continues to rise.
Minister Dipuo Peters reported last week that there were 487 confirmed deaths between 1 – 13 December, as a result of holiday road accidents. This number has now gone well over 500 and is expected to out-do the previous year’s total of 1400 individuals.
One of the major contributing factors to the amount of holiday road accidents is driving under the influence. With more people on holiday, there’s a lot more drinking going on. So there are substantially more drunk drivers on the road. Just this past weekend saw 440 arrests in Johannesburg alone and those are just the ones who were caught.
Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesman Simon Zwane expressed concern about the large number of holiday road accidents relating to drunk pedestrians, driving under the influence and speeding in unroadworthy vehicles.
“During our roadblocks we found more than 1000 motorists under the influence of alcohol and subsequently arrested them. We also suspended about 1000 unroadworthy vehicles,” he said.
The other major concern, apart from drunk driving, is speeding. Various arrests across the country for individuals driving over 200km/h took place this past weekend. When drunk drunk driving and speeding are combined, the probability of being involved in an accident become extremely high.
“Speed is a factor that leads to accidents. People lose control of their vehicles and collide with others or stationary objects,” Minnaar said.
He further added that pedestrians must be particularly careful. Avoid crossing freeways or railway tracks, especially when it’s dark or if you’ve been drinking alcohol.
“There will be zero tolerance for those who flout the rules of the road,” Minnaar said.
His statements were backed by Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa, who said many of the crashes were as a result of the attitudes of drivers.
“With our new technology, which includes average speed over distance cameras, weekend alcohol blitzes, fatigue management and chain speed operations, we are saving lives and making a difference. Motorists need to change their attitudes and be more respectful to their fellow road users,” Africa said.
Taxi drivers contribute largely to the amount of holiday road accidents, particularly this festive season.
“Taxis are coming back from the Eastern Cape driving at high speed; they are taking chances and endangering people. They are driving up and down trying to see how many trips they can do, driving in high speed. We can’t allow it. This is not on. We are going to deal with them.”
Africa added.
Source: IOL