Road deaths in KZN down during festive season

Despite an increase in the vehicle population due to higher car sales as well as an increase in the number of tourists visiting the province, road deaths in KwaZulu-Natal were lower over the past (2006) festive season as compared to previous years.

This has been attributed to a number of strategies, including increased law enforcement visibility and other road safety measures, which were implemented throughout the festive period towards ensuring that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport's "100% COMPLIANCE" policy was fully implemented.

For the period 1 December 2006 to 7 January 2007, 293 people were killed in 247 road crashes as compared to 312 people killed in 256 crashes during the same period in 2005/06. Of the 293 road deaths, 53 were drivers, 83 passengers and 157 pedestrians.

Pedestrian fatalities increased from 147 in 2005/6 to 157 in 2006/7. As a result, the Department has dubbed 2007 "The Year of the Pedestrian" and will intensify road safety education, especially in rural communities.

From 1 December 2006 to 7 January 2007, motorists were charged for approximately 35 000 various traffic offences and 877 motorists were arrested for serious traffic violations, in KZN alone. Of this figure, 664 drivers were arrested for drunk driving, 77 for speeding and 17 for reckless and negligent driving. 1219 Vehicles were removed form the province's roads for being in an un-roadworthy condition. 186 Pedestrians were arrested for walking on the freeway.

The highest speed recorded was 225 kilometres per hour on the N3 near Bergville. Mohamed Zaheer Khan (25 years) from North West Province who was travelling in a Mercedes Benz was arrested and released on R5000 bail. He is due to appear in the Ladysmith Magistrates Court on 2 March 2007.

A sentence of a fine of R20 000 was imposed on Eugene Davids for travelling at 202 kilometres per hour. Davids was travelling on the N2 near Ifafa when he was arrested and appeared in the Scottburgh Magistrates Court. Another motorist was fined R6000 after being found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by fitting a lazer jammer to his vehicle.

KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety & Liaison Mr. Bheki Cele said: "We need to educate ordinary people to know and understand traffic laws. Some people do not know that it's a crime to walk on a freeway and it's a crime to walk on the road while under the influence of alcohol. Some people even herd their cattle along freeways and are not aware that traffic authorities have a right to shoot these cows".

Head of the KZN Transport Department Dr. Kwazi Mbanjwa reiterated that road safety education will focus on rural areas where some people, especially young people, have never seen traffic lights and only encounter these lights when they come into the cities to do their annual shopping. "Education is vital for these people," he said.

Meanwhile, Cele has reiterated his call to public transport operators in general, but to minibus taxi operators and long distance luxury bus operators in particular, no to put profit above the lives of their passengers. This follows a recent major crackdown as part of Operation Thath' Iskorokoro where 122 vehicles, of which the majority were buses, were impounded for being in an un-roadworthy condition.

"On Christmas Eve alone, we lost 18 people due to driver negligence and mechanical error. The first accident occurred in the early hours of the morning on the N3 south bound lane near Pietermaritzburg, when the driver of a SA Road Link Bus who was travelling from Johannesburg to Durban, lost control and collided into the pillars of a bridge, killing 12 people. In another accident on Christmas Eve, six people were killed in an accident involving two minibus taxis and a bakkie outside Vryheid.

"It is clearly evident that whilst government will continue to do everything possible to prevent road deaths, road safety still remains everybody's responsibility. Unless we take personal and collective responsibility for our own safety on our roads, we will not win this battle against road carnage. One death is one too many. It is therefore high time that each and every one of us enlist as road safety activists. We must join hands and make a concerted effort to put an end to these senseless killings on our roads 24 hours-a-day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year," Cele concluded.
 

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