18 April 2006
Pretoria - With Easter holidays now over, never for a moment forget about
your safety whilst using the road. The death toll over the Easter weekend has
now reached 173 from 126 crashes. We are following up on 44 unreported cases
with the South African Police Service. Some 51 pedestrians, 77 passengers and
45 drivers died. The breakdown of fatalities per province is as follows:
Gauteng 20, KwaZulu-Natal 35, Western Cape 11, Eastern Cape 23, Mpumalanga 24,
Free State 14, Limpopo 19, North West 17 and Northern Cape 10. Last year over
the same weekend 241 people died from 194 crashes.
It is clear from the figures that our Arrive Alive campaign measures have
arrested the rising trend. To have a sustainable reduction we count on every
road user's support by respecting road rules at all times.
Although we have seen a phenomenal growth in vehicle population especially
during March this year where almost 56 000 new vehicles (total vehicle
population just over 8 million) were registered. We take comfort in the
measures we initiated under "Operation Emisa" to save unnecessary loss of human
life. We will continue to impound and stop un-roadworthy vehicles especially
taxis and buses. This is so because of the high number of passengers who have
died.
"Road accidents do not just happen. They happen due to certain contributory
factors especially speeding, unsafe overtaking, drinking and driving, driving
un-roadworthy vehicle. It's your life, save it by obeying traffic rules",
advised the Department of Transport's Arrive Alive campaign.
Enquiries:
Collen Msibi
Cell: 082 414 5279
Ntau Letebele
Cell: 082 923 9194
Issued by: Ministry of Transport
18 April 2006
Source: SAPA
