The Division of Transport has issued a stark warning to motorists as tens of millions of South Africans put together to hit the roads for the festive season, highlighting the nation’s most harmful routes and urging highway customers to take private accountability to save lots of lives.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy launched the 365-day Arrive Alive Highway Security Marketing campaign initially of December, stressing that safer roads rely largely on the behaviour of drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
“Most crashes on our roads should not accidents within the true sense of the phrase. They’re preventable and overwhelmingly linked to human behaviour,” Creecy mentioned.
Highway deaths down – however nonetheless unacceptably excessive
Creecy famous a major milestone this yr: for the primary time in 5 years, South Africa’s nationwide highway dying toll has dropped, with round 700 fewer fatalities recorded.
Nonetheless, she cautioned that the general image stays troubling, with greater than 9 400 folks killed on the roads thus far this yr.
“That quantity is way, a lot too excessive,” she mentioned.
Information collected all year long exhibits that human error accounts for 9 out of each 10 crashes, with Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, Japanese Cape and Limpopo recording the very best variety of deadly accidents.
Pedestrians stay probably the most weak highway customers, accounting for greater than half of all highway deaths.
Excessive-risk durations and enforcement blitz
Authorities have warned that weekend journey, late-night driving and long-distance journeys the place fatigue units in are probably the most harmful occasions on South Africa’s roads.
As a part of the festive season security plan, legislation enforcement will enhance visibility and conduct 24-hour patrols, with intensified roadblocks specializing in:
Car roadworthiness
Legitimate driver’s licences
Seatbelt and child-restraint compliance
Dashing and drunk driving
South Africa’s most harmful roads
The Vehicle Affiliation of South Africa (AA) has urged motorists to depend on verified knowledge when assessing highway threat.
In keeping with the Division of Transport and highway security experiences, a number of routes constantly emerge as probably the most harmful, particularly throughout peak vacation journey.
These embrace:
N1 (Pretoria-Polokwane, Cape City-Johannesburg): Excessive site visitors volumes and reckless overtaking
N2 (Cape City-Durban, significantly in KwaZulu-Natal): Dashing, drunk driving and heavy pedestrian exercise
N3 (Johannesburg-Durban): Congestion, vans and long-distance buses
N4 (Pretoria-Mpumalanga-Mozambique): Well-liked vacationer and cross-border route, with fatigue and dashing dangers
N12 (Johannesburg-Kimberley): Lengthy enforcement-free stretches
Provincial roads such because the R61 (Japanese Cape) and R71 (Limpopo): Poor highway situations and combined site visitors
Key security recommendation for vacation travellers
Highway security specialists and insurers have urged motorists to take additional precautions, together with:
Sustaining protected following distances and fixed consciousness
By no means mixing alcohol and driving
Obeying velocity limits and adjusting for climate and highway situations
Checking automobiles earlier than lengthy journeys
Taking breaks each two hours to fight fatigue
Avoiding overloading automobiles
Sporting seatbelts and utilizing correct youngster restraints
Planning routes to keep away from broken roads, peak congestion and extreme climate
As festive journey ramps up, authorities have reiterated that each highway consumer has a job to play in guaranteeing that households arrive safely at their locations.
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