Easter fatalities increase by 51% from last year
The minister of transport, Joe Maswanganyi, says the human factor remains a critical cause of most of the road accidents over the Easter period.
Commenting on the preliminary Easter road safety figures, the minister says road accidents can be avoided if everyone prioritises road safety and uses the roads responsibly.
“The total number of fatalities increased by 51% (79), from 156 over the same period the previous year to 235 this year.
• Read: Easter holiday fatalities down 46% from 2015
“However, this year’s fatalities are still significantly lower than the 333 fatalities recorded in 2015.
“Our statistics indicate the most people who died on the roads this Easter were passengers (50%), followed by pedestrians (24.5%), drivers (19, 8%) and cyclists (5.7%),” he says.
“Most of the passengers who died were travelling in cars, which contributed 49% to fatal crashes,” he says.
Maswanganyi says during this period 61 340 motorists were charged with various offences, including failing to wear seat belts, use of cell phones while driving, speeding and overloading.
“More than 2 800 motorist were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, inconsiderate, reckless and negligent driving, possession of false documents and driving without licences and public driver’s permits,” he says.
Maswanganyi says if all road users prioritise road safety, the resources government spends on accidents, amounting to R147 billion annually, would be spared.
“The Road Accident Fund spends R33 billion annually on payments of claims.
• Also read: Accidents can be prevented
“These funds could be redirected to other government priorities which will go a very long way to address the triple challenges of employment, poverty and inequalities, thereby assisting us to increase the pace to achieve radical socio-economic transformation,” he says.
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