Festive season road stats: More attention should be paid by authorities all year round

Yet another festive season, yet another 1 451 deaths on the roads. Allegedly.

Automobile Association spokesperson Layton Beard noted the official recorded number of fatalities by the Road Traffic Management Corporation over the 2021-2022 period was 1 808 fatalities, not 1 451.

“This brings into question the accuracy of the numbers provided overall, an issue we have raised before,” Beard said.

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He went on to say the number of fatalities was still too high and could not be regarded as a gain in terms of road safety. More attention should be paid by authorities all year round. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to happen.

Even if our roads were flooded with traffic officers, there are too few good cops not looking for “cool drink” and far too many drivers willing to pay a bribe to escape a fine.

The other problem is pedestrians. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula noted out of every 100 road crash fatalities, 41 are pedestrians. Part of traffic officer’s job is to prosecute those walking on highways. It is a messy job, resulting in a fine which the person often is unable to pay and the paperwork can take the officer off the road for hours.

There has to be a simpler, more elegant solution and instead of annually ringing the traffic death toll bell, perhaps a more motivated transport minister will actually do something to protect motorists and pedestrians from themselves.

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