Festive season travel: Road accidents up from last year, pedestrians the highest casualties

As the festive season and holiday period draws to a close, traffic volumes are expected to start increasing.

The country has seen some deadly accidents on national roads with the death toll expected to surpass the stats presented by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy in mid-December last year.

Creecy painted a grim picture of the 2024 festive season revealing that Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Limpopo accounted for 70% of road fatalities in South Africa at the time.

Prelim stats

Creecy said a total of 439 fatal crashes have been recorded, which is a 3.1 % increase when compared to 426 fatal crashes recorded in the same period last year.

“The majority of those who died were pedestrians (45.6%), followed by passengers (26.8%), drivers (26.7%) and cyclists (0.74%),” Creecy said.

With motorists returning home and children back to school in a few weeks, the Road Traffic Management Corporation has urged drivers to exercise caution.

ALSO READ: Gauteng records highest fatalities on SA roads in December so far [VIDEO]

Zero tolerance

RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane told The Citizen that authorities will be out in full force on the country’s major routes.

“Motorists are advised to exercise caution while returning to their respective provinces, especially in rainy conditions. 

“Drivers should ensure they are well-rested and avoid driving under the influence of alcohol or speeding.  Pedestrians are also advised to avoid walking on roads, especially under the influence of alcohol.”

Zwane said they are still busy gathering information about festive season road statistics which is likely to be presented by Creecy.

“We have obtained permission from all the district SA Police Service police stations in the country to update that information. So we are still in the process of doing that and the minister will announce the statistics.”

Worst province

While debates have raged on social media about which province had the worst driver, Zwane would not be drawn in speculating on the stats.

“We don’t want to create an impression that drivers in one province are driving worse. You find that drivers driving from other provinces causing accidents in the province they are driving to.”

Advanced driving

Knowing how to react in an emergency can play a critical role in ensuring that you and your fellow motorists are safe on the roads.

Grant McCleery and his team, Chris Prinsloo, Byron Norton, and Laurie Claasen, who run the Isuzu Driving Dynamics Academy said the most important thing about driving, is your eyes.

“We as humans can only see one thing clear at any time. So, we continuously when we are driving have to alter our vision and that’s what we call skills observation.”

McCleery said driving is about planning and being one step ahead before you take to the roads, no matter where you are going.

Mobile phones while driving

He further emphasised the issue of cellphone usage while driving.

Several studies have shown that people who text while driving are 23 times more likely to crash.

Texting and driving is more like driving blind for seven seconds at a time and it slows your braking reaction speed by at least 18%.

ALSO READ: WATCH: How to be a better-skilled driver this festive season