Drop in E Cape road deaths

Road fatalities over the festive season in the Eastern Cape fell by 3% – or seven fewer deaths.

Comparative year-on-year figures released by Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi yesterday revealed 213 people had died on provincial roads this season, compared to 220 last season.

Across South Africa, festive season road deaths declined by 11%, a 1% improvement on the government’s target of a 10% decrease.

Maswanganyi, releasing the figures in Pretoria, said the number of road accidents across the province between December 1 and January 15 had dropped by 5% from 182 to 173.

He said there was an impressive 43% decline in fatalities on South Africa’s 13 most deadly routes, where 244 people died compared to 429 previously.

The statistics were welcomed yesterday by transport MEC Weziwe Tikana, who said: “While the number of road crashes on provincial roads is still alarming and a cause for concern, the reduction of fatalities is welcomed.

“An analysis of crashes indicate that over 90% of these are a result of human behaviour, hence we need to strengthen our education, in particular targeting motorists, as their behaviour contributes to the high number of accidents,” said Tikana.

There was a noticeable decline in road fatalities in seven of the country’s nine provinces.

Only the Western Cape and North West province recorded 7% and 11% increases respectively.

Maswanganyi said the lower death toll was in spite of the festive season being longer than last year and that there were more vehicles on our roads. He said his department defined the festive season as the period between December 1 and the day before schools reopened.

Maswanganyi’s department had targeted to reduce road fatalities by 10% in the past festive season.

He revealed that from December 1 to January 9, 1527 people had been killed on South African roads compared to 1714.

Over a longer period, from December 1 to January 15, there had been 1676 fatalities compared to 1875 in the previous year, he said.

This was despite an increase of a million registered vehicles on South African roads, up from 11 million to 12-million.

The number of driving licences issued by his department, however, increased by 500000 from 12.1-million in December 2016 to 12.6-million in December 2017.

Further statistics released by the minister showed that:

lAn Eastern Cape motorist was one of three arrested for fraud and corruption after trying to bribe traffic officers;

lMost fatalities were pedestrians, up from 34% to 37%, while fatalities among drivers also increased from 23% to 27%.

lPassenger fatalities declined from 41% to 35% “which indicates that it is possible to save more lives if more people use safety belts,” said the minister;

lFatalities among youthful drivers between 25 and 34 worsened, but there was “an encouraging decline” in fatalities among drivers aged of 35 to 49;

lThere was an improved compliance with the rules of the roads which was helped by government’s promotion of road safety;

l The number of motorists arrested for drunken driving fell from 5943 i to 3301.

lSpeeding was a major problem and saw 922 drivers arrested, 137 more than 785 last season.

— asandan@dispatch.co.za