Police make record number of arrests over the weekend!
Metro police are warning drivers who break the law that there will be no mercy. This past weekend they broke the record in the number of arrests made!
The Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) stated its intensive anti-drunk-driving campaign would continue for at least the next two weeks. The past weekend saw a record of 476 arrests made for driving under the influence.
The JMPD spokesman, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar reported that on average there are around 250 arrests on any given weekend. Further adding that South Africa leads the world in deaths related to driving under the influence.
“People just don’t learn!”
“Many motorists are still risking their own safety as well as that of other road users by driving their vehicles after they have consumed alcohol that is above the legal limit of 0.24mg/1000ml.”
“If you’re going to drink, then don’t drive, either take a cab or make some other arrangement to get home,” said Minnaar.
The campaign by the Metro Police, or the ‘Festive Season Operation’, has been highly successful – with over 1000 arrests for speeding.
One driver reached speeds of 249km/h on the N1 in Midrand.
“At that speed, the motorist was arrested and he has to appear in court,” he added
The Road Traffic Management Corporation (TFMC), stated that a full report on the road deaths throughout the festive season would be released soon.
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said that the total number of fatalities as a result of road accidents had decreased slightly this festive season, when compared to the previous’ years.
She reported that 1118 fatal road accidents were recorded between the period of 1 December 2015 – 5 January 2016, resulting in 1368 deaths. This corresponds to a decrease of 2.5% in the number of fatal road accidents and 0.6% in the amount of deaths.
Source: IOL