Time for talking is gone – AA

The increase in road deaths over the 2016/17 festive period is cause for great concern and points to the lack of a proper road safety strategy to deal with the carnage.

Commenting on the road fatality statistics released by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters, the AA says the numbers are horrific.

According to Peters 1 714 people died on South African roads between December 1 and January 9.

Over the same period last year 1 629 people died on the country’s roads, meaning this year’s figures show a 4% increase.

Read: Road death statistics are deeply worrying

“On the surface, this increase may appear to be nominal, but the reality is that the number is neither stabilising nor, more importantly, coming down.

“More concerning is that the Department of Transport, and the minister, are saying the same things this year as they did last year, and the situation is not getting any better,” the AA says.

The association also points to the various indabas and forums held throughout the year, significantly the traffic officers’ indaba in Durban from December 5 to 9, which appear to have had no noticeable impact on the fatality statistics.

“Hosting a road safety indaba so late in the year has proven to be fruitless, the results speak for themselves.

“Despite the many apparent road safety education and awareness campaigns throughout the year that the minister referenced in her speech as a success, there has been no impact on the death toll at all.

“It is time that more drastic action is taken to address this situation.”

The AA also expresses concern that the preliminary figures announced may increase, as they did last year, further adding to the number of deaths.

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“What is particularly dismaying about the 2017 numbers is the steep increase in the number of passengers who died.

“Passengers accounted for 40% of deaths this year, along with 34% pedestrians and 24% drivers.

Another concern brought up by the association is that the number of cars stopped, and fines issued, during this period are as high as they are.

According to the AA, this should be standard procedure and not limited to special times of the year, such as festive holiday seasons.

The association notes that these cars could have been stopped and many removed from the roads months ago and that a more impressive figure would have been if drivers had been stopped for moving violations such as reckless and negligent driving.

“The numbers are horrific,” states the AA.

“As we noted in December they are indicative of a lack of mutual respect amongst motorists for their own, and other drivers’ lives.

“While this situation needs to change, and change quickly, it is also incumbent upon the authorities to not only talk about saving lives, but put in place proper, implementable strategies to deal with this,” concludes the AA.