MINISTER for Transport Dipuo Peters on Tuesday announced that road deaths over the Easter period (24 to 28 March) showed a 46% decline, with 156 people dying on our roads this year compared to 207 last year.
Peters also announced that 913 drivers were arrested nationally for driving under the influence and 502 for speed violations – with the highest recorded speedster clocking in at 227km/h in KZN.
‘There were many planned religious, cultural and mass sporting events such as the Two Oceans Marathon and the Klein Karoo Festival,’ she said.
‘This encouraged travelling and thus we heightened our Easter interventions from 11 March and launched safety activation, focusing on promoting vehicle roadworthiness among public transport vehicles.’
She highlighted that the zero tolerance attitude by traffic police and other pre-emptive measures contributed to the decline despite a 3% increase in the number of vehicles on the roads.
