The Northern Cape’s road fatalities’ preliminary results since the beginning of the month stands at 35 and nothing has been recorded for Christmas and Boxing Day so far.
While this number is unacceptably high, our efforts with the Festive Season Road Traffic Plan continue to work to curb the number of road fatalities, increase obedience and raise awareness on road safety. Saving lives and maintaining order on our roads remains our top priority.
Law enforcement is without a doubt vital for safety on our roads and so far two people have been arrested in Colesberg for speeding and the highest speed recorded was 167km/h. Eighteen people have also been arrested since the beginning of December for drunken driving.
So far, a total of 2 620 summonses have been issued since the beginning of the festive season. Some include 724 for speed, 45 for overloading, 155 for tyres, 67 for front lamps and 50 for use of cellphones while driving. A full breakdown of the summonses issued will be given at the end of the festive season.
Road user’s behaviour has been exceptional despite a few that are not obedient but overall road users have been cooperative and responsible on the roads. Our traffic officials are happy with the behaviour of most of the Province’s road users as they abide by the rules of the road and their behaviour is encouraging.
We continue to encourage people to abide by the rules of the road and to respect each other on the roads. People must always remember to buckle up, keep to the speed limit, exercise patience on the roads, to always remain safe and take regular breaks every 2hrs, 200kms or change drivers. We also appeal to our pedestrians and cyclists to also continue to abide by the rules of the road, to remain visible and exercise patience on the roads.
As our roads link to other provinces, we do expect high volumes of traffic on our roads. People continue to travel through the province while some continue using our roads to travel to local holiday destinations that can be explored in our beautiful province. In the past it has also been recorded that people would go on leave before Christmas to go home while others would want to go on leave before the New Year, so it is for this reason and others that our roads remain busy.
For any inquiries, please contact:
Keitumetse Moticoe
Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison
Communication Officer
Cell: 074 251 6567
