Traffic chaos on SA’s major routes as holiday travel peaks

Heavy traffic has been reported on some of the major routes as South Africans travel to their holiday destinations.

According to Traffic SA, traffic was backed up on the N3 south at the Wilge Toll Plaza in Villiers, Free State on Friday morning.

In KwaZulu-Natal, there were traffic delays caused by an accident on the N3 south between Balgowan and Lions River.

The wet weather and a truck crash caused a traffic delay in the Hectorspruit area in Mpumalanga.

The N1 north from Pretoria to Polokwane was packed as usual as motorists queued into Pumulani Toll Plaza.

Travelling tips

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has called on travellers to consider the high number of vehicles on the road at this time of the year and add at least an hour to their travelling time.

Motorists should also check the weather forecast before embarking on journeys and avoid travelling at night.

“The December period is generally characterised by summer rainfall in South Africa and motorists should make sure that their vehicles have properly functioning windscreen wipers and that brakes and tyres are in good condition,” warned the RTMC.

“An analysis conducted by the RTMC shows that fatal crashes increase astronomically between 7pm and 11pm. Pre-dawn travel is also dangerous as the data shows that there is a high number of crashes between 1am and 3am,” it said.

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Road crashes are particularly high on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“Motorists are called upon to exercise extreme caution when travelling on these days. Motorists are advised to refrain from giving lifts to hitchhikers as this can lead to hijackings or attacks.”

‘Be safe, not sorry’

The Automobile Association (AA) has also called for vigilance on the roads amid the expected increase in traffic volumes on the country’s major routes.

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“Traditionally this is an extremely dangerous time to be on our roads; fatalities over this period spike, especially on those routes where volumes increase substantially such as the N1 from Polokwane to Cape Town through Gauteng and Bloemfontein, the N2 along the Indian Ocean coastline, the N3 from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal, the N4 through Mpumalanga, and the N7 from Cape Town through Namaqualand to the Namibian border. All road users should be aware of these increases to traffic volumes, and adjust their behaviour accordingly,” said the AA.