Stats show spike in festive season Mpumalanga road fatalities

The increase in road fatalities over the festive season, compared to the previous one, have been deemed alarming by the Mpumalanga MEC for community safety, security and liaison, Vusi Shongwe.

The minister of transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, recently released the festive season road safety statistics.

“Compared to the previous festive season, the province had an increase in the number of crashes, fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries,” said Shongwe.

He said that according to the statistics, this festive season saw 169 fatalities on the roads compared to last season’s 158.

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Shongwe said the number of crashes increased from 802 to 808. There were 609 serious injuries compared to last season’s 484, and 894 slight injuries as opposed to last season’s 819.

Shongwe said most of the fatal crashes occurred on the N4, followed by the R23, R40, R33, R37 and R573.

“The statistics have further revealed that municipal roads have also recorded a high number of crashes. Most of them were due to loss of control and overturning, dangerous overtaking, which resulted in head-on collisions, sideswipes and head-rear collisions,” he said.

He said there were 40 pedestrian fatalities this season, a decrease from the last period’s 44. “Out of all the crashes recorded, sedans were mostly involved, followed by light delivery vehicles, minibus taxis and articulated trucks. Most of these crashes happened between 14:00 and 22:00 between Saturdays and Tuesdays,” he said.

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Shongwe said that as part of the Festive Season Road Safety Campaign, officials stopped and checked over 193 600 vehicles in various operations conducted across the province. He said over 75 000 were also taken through various weighbridges.

Shongwe added that more than 31 000 summonses were issued to motorists for offences varying from excessive speeding and overtaking on barrier lines to disregard for traffic signals, stopping on freeways and driving vehicles with defects.

He said that of those summonses, 11 419 were for speeding. Shongwe said 998 vehicles were impounded and 535 were discontinued.

“Over and above this, 298 motorists were arrested. About 103 drivers were arrested for drunken driving, 110 failed to pay their traffic fines and had warrants executed for them, and 38 were arrested for excessive speeding.”

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He said these crashes are an indication that more still needs to be done to educate motorists about road safety and driver behaviour.

“We can overcome the scourge of road crashes if we understand that road safety is not the responsibility of the government alone. We need everyone to play their part in ensuring safety on our roads by also reporting any bad driving,” Shongwe said.

He thanked those law enforcement officers who worked during the holiday season, saying they should not be discouraged by these statistics and that without their commitment, the situation could have been worse.

“We also appreciate the motorists who continue to obey the rules of the road, because we could have recorded even more crashes and fatalities had it not been for their good behaviour.”

He called on all law enforcement officers not to tolerate any disregard for the rules or reckless and negligent driving.