deaths"
30 November 2007
Pretoria: During the festive season schools close, factories and most
workplaces close for December and New Year holidays. As a result our roads are
busier than normal. Every year-end it is cheerful time, a time to relax, party
and enjoy. That is the South African tradition. It is also the South African
tragedy, because during festive time, the level of road safety deteriorates
sharply and alarmingly, and road collisions escalate, causing disruptions,
injuries and deaths at a higher rate.
People travel by various means such as buses, taxis, own cars, trains and so
forth. It is appropriate that as our roads are busier we should heighten our
enforcement and communications efforts conveying the message that it is not
business as usual.
We cannot treat a situation whereby more than 1726 people died during the
festive season - nearly 35 people dying on our roads EACH DAY of the month, as
normal. We have a responsibility as government to ensure the safety of South
Africans. The reality is that these figures are far much higher in comparison
with other months during the year.
The main contributory factors to these crashes are mainly:
* speed
* drinking and driving
* fatigue
* unsafe overtaking
* unsafe crossing of roads (pedestrians)
* drinking and walking (pedestrians)
* tyre bursts
* unsafe following distances.
Road safety hints:
* Speed - adhere to the prescribed speed; 10 % lower will reduce fatalities by
40 percent
* Seatbelts - if the seatbelt wearing rate increases by 2% we can save more
than 200 lives per annum â seatbelts save lives;
* Alcohol - 50% percent of people (drivers and pedestrians) who die in road
crashes have a blood alcohol content (BAC) above 0.05 - don't drink and
drive.
* Vehicle and driver fitness - vehicles must comply with roadworthiness
regulations; defective and unroadworthy vehicles cause crashes - licensed
drivers are better drivers.
Media contacts:
Collen Msibi
Cell: 082414 5279
Ntau Letebele
Cell: 082 923 9194
Ms Thandi Moya
Cell: 076 751 0905 (Road Traffic Management Corporation)
Issued by: Department of Transport
30 November 2007
Source: SAPA
