DURBAN - TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula said the country recorded a big spike in road crashes with multiple fatalities from the start of the festive season, which has resulted in 17 crashes this year compared with seven over the same period last year.
The number of fatalities from major crashes between December 1 to 20 has also increased, from 34 last year to 111 this year.
Addressing the media yesterday, when he released the 2021 preliminary festive season road statistics, Mbalula said some motorists did not value life.
“One death on the road is one too many. We are concerned about the high number of major crashes where five or more people perish in a single incident.”
On the road accident statistics for the year to date, Mbalula said the number of fatalities had declined marginally by 3.1%, from 848 last year to 822 this year.
“The human factor still remains the main causal factor for most of the crashes during this period. Statistics revealed that people who died on the roads this year were passengers at 35%, followed by pedestrians at 34%, drivers at 26%, motorcyclists at 1% and bicycle riders at 1%,” Mbalula said.
He said the vehicle types most often involved in fatal crashes were minibuses, light delivery vehicles and trucks. He said most fatal crashes happened during the early hours of the morning and early evening between Friday and Sunday.
“Our statistics show that fatalities increased in five provinces, with the exception of the Free State, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. The Eastern Cape recorded the highest decline of 30.7% in fatalities, from 127 fatalities in 2021 to 88 so far this year.”
The Free State recorded an 8.3% decline in fatalities, from 60 in 2020 to 55 over the same period, while Limpopo recorded a 16.8% decrease in fatalities, from 107 in 2020 to 89 over the same period. KwaZulu-Natal recorded a 24.3% decrease in fatalities from 173 in 2020 to 131 over the same period.
The Northern Cape recorded an increase of 60%, from 20 fatalities in 2020 to 32 over the same period, while the Western Cape recorded an increase of 49.3%, from 71 fatalities in 2020 to 106 over the same period. Mpumalanga recorded an increase of 26.4%, from 87 in 2020 to 110 over the same period.
The North West recorded an increase of 10.9%, from 55 in 2020 to 61 over the same period, and Gauteng recorded an increase of 1.4%, from 148 in 2020 to 150 over the same period.
AA spokesperson Layton Beard said apart from the human factor in crashes, there were several others that needed to be considered.
“We need better roads, better infrastructure, lights that work on major intersections and a space where pedestrians can walk,” he said.
He added that greater traffic law enforcement was needed in order to clamp down on unroadworthy vehicles.
Mbalula said 710 970 vehicles were stopped and checked during the first half of the festive season campaign.
A total of 1 820 were impounded and 2 639 drivers were arrested for various offences ranging from drunk driving to speeding and operating vehicles without a driving licence.
THE MERCURY