OPINION | Joint effort needed to end carnage on our roads

Exams are all but done, and schools are closing for the holidays.

For many it is time to hit the road and head home to be with family, or go on holiday or on religious pilgrimages.

The roads are already impossibly busy and we are not yet even half way through December.

After all, ’tis the season to be merry.

But the Daily Dispatch, which will be producing news all through the holiday season -including the end of 2024 and the birth of the new year — would like to focus on the joyous and the positive at this time of year.

Instead, annually we write about horrible road accidents and how the road death toll increases with each year as though we have all learnt nothing.

A few days ago, three people died and several were injured on the N2 near Butterworth in a head-on collision, including a little 4-year-old excited to be on a trip to town with his dad.

That one collision has probably ruined the season and the lives of entire families.

Transport minister Barbara Creecy eloquently pointed out this week that every road statistic was actually “a story of a life lost, a family left grieving or often a person having to deal with life-changing injuries”.

It is a sobering thought, as is the financial cost.

Creecy said s road crashes had cost the country's economy more than R205bn in 2023, which translated into 2.74% of GDP.

The increasing congestion is not helped by the number of trucks on the roads, transporting goods which used to be carried by our now collapsed railway system.

In 2023, a report by the Road Traffic Management Corporation found there had been 2,237 fatal truck crashes involving 3,546 trucks over five years.

This is an average of at least one a day.

All of this mitigates against a road fatality-free season. But, there are many factors the public can control to reduce the risk.

A painfully obvious one is to avoid any possibility of driving while under the influence.

In the past month alone, 98 motorists have been caught by law enforcement for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, just in the Buffalo City Metro.

The BCM and provincial transport departments’ decision to enforce a zero tolerance approach towards such crimes is to be welcomed.

It is not just inconsiderate to drive drunk — it is downright irresponsible.

The traffic officials and emergency workers also deserve a better and happier holiday season.

Let’s try to give it them.

Be careful, patient, responsible and kind on the roads so that everyone may enjoy a better holiday season this year.

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