It is sad and tragic to hear that more than 1 700 people lost their lives on our roads over the 2016 festive period.
According to the preliminary 2016/ 17 Festive Season road safety statement released by Dipuo Peters, the Minister of Transport, a total of 1 714 fatalities were recorded in this festive period. This is a 5 per cent increase on the previous period.
Peters said traffic law enforcement officers conducted more than 432 roadblocks throughout the country during this festive period and issued 453 263 fines for various traffic offences. Of particular interest is that 28 238 of these fines were for drivers who failed to wear seatbelts, while 4 046 were for using cellphones while driving.
She states further that about 6 805 unroadworthy vehicles were suspended or discontinued, while 2 501 other motor vehicles were impounded. To clamp down on drunken driving, speeding and other moving violations, the officers arrested about 9 175 motorists.
Sixty-five per cent of these, i.e. 5 943 persons, were arrested for drunken driving. A total of 18 drivers were arrested for driving at excessive speeds of between 182 and well over 200 km per hour. The fastest speedster arrested in Gauteng was travelling at 239km an hour in a Mercedes Benz on the R21 near Tshwane. The latest speedster appeared in court recently after he was arrested travelling at 207 km an hour.
Peters added that the most problematic days of the week remain the weekends, however our intensified law enforcement saw stabilisation and reduction during weekdays.
Read the Minister’s full statement here
