Our roads have become slaughter fields – Cope

This is according to the Congress of the People (Cope).

“We are tired of hearing the figures after each and every holiday,” Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem said.

Bloem added that the fact that more than 1 700 people died on the roads during the holiday period shows that the measures adopted by the department were largely unsuccessful.

“This year, going by the preliminary figures, 14 per cent more people died than in the previous year; this is evidence of the department failing to end the carnage on the roads.

” And the fact that 56.2 per cent of drivers were caught speeding needs analysis,” said Bloem.

In Cope’s view motorists undertaking long journeys are unable to maintain a steady speed of 120km per hour continuously.

“Too many heavy vehicles retard traffic and very often traffic is reduced to a lengthy crawl over inclines because there is no special lane for slow vehicles.

“Free flowing traffic at an even speed will drastically reduce accidents,” Bloem explained.

He said the problem of road freightage has, therefore, to be solved, as there are just too many heavy vehicles on our roads.

Furthermore, Bloem added, the prevalence of moving violations, un-roadworthy vehicles, cars without number plates and reckless and dangerous driving cannot and must not be seen as a problem of government alone.

“Every responsible road-user is equally concerned about the very same things and should be seen as a resource for curbing violations,” he said.

“Government must engage with drivers to get their buy-in and their cooperation.

“Cope continues to call for roadside information, so that drivers can call the nearest traffic officers to report violations.

“Responsible road-users and traffic authorities must work together co-operatively to make our roads safe.

Cope also wishes to see roadside motels every 200km on national roads.

“Road fatigue is certainly a very serious problem and the absence of affordable motels forces motorists to push on instead of breaking their journeys,” Bloem said.

“Furthermore, the N1, for vast stretches, induces boredom and something must be done about that.”

He added that Cope calls upon the courts to show no mercy to those who appear for drunken driving and other serious road transgressions that put the lives of people in danger.

“Our courts must view serious road offences very seriously,” he said.

”We believe that legislation to punish lawless elements on our roads already exists, what we want to see is driver co-operation to stop our roads becoming slaughter fields.”

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