Transport Dept wishes road users a safe festive season

With the Festive Season around the corner, MEC for Transport and Community Safety Makoma Makhurupetje wished all road users a safe and joyous period.
She said Limpopo is declared a zero-tolerance area and any person caught speeding or breaking any rule of the road would be dealt with accordingly and reiterated that the road safety team would work tirelessly to ensure road users’ safety. She further said as part of the department’s Operation Ndadzi meaning ‘thunder’, several developments have been made in terms of stepping up the enforcement of road safety in all the districts.
“All road users should have road safety tips deep-rooted in their hearts until it is instinctive to practice them. Have a heart for pedestrians because the road belongs to them as well and stay within the speed limit at all times, speed kills. Drivers should only overtake when it is absolutely safe to do so and pedestrians should not drink and walk on the road,” she stated.
Makhurupetje urged drivers to maintain at least two seconds following distance – this distance should be increased at night, in foggy or rainy conditions and when the road is wet.
Take safety breaks every two hours or 200 km, she said and cautioned that drivers should try to recognise potentially dangerous drivers and pedestrians alongside the road and obey road rules at all times.
“Deaths caused by road accidents are alarming and harsh reality we face on our roads can only be rectified through a change in the behaviour of all road users. In most cases the tragic stories of innocent lives ruined through road accidents are a result of reckless behaviour or un-roadworthy vehicles. We can never over emphasise the importance of road safety,” she explained and added that road safety is everybody’s responsibility. If you flick lights to warn other motorists of traffic officers, you are a killer, she concluded.

Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za