Western Cape road deaths down 30%

Cape Town. 16.06.13. Traffic cops conducting a blitz on all metered taxis in Long Street early Sunday morning found that the driver of this taxi full of passengers had no drivers licence. The blitz in the early hours of Sunday, June 16 forms part of a clampdown on illegal activities in the public transport sector. Picture Ian Landsberg

Cape Town. 16.06.13. Traffic cops conducting a blitz on all metered taxis in Long Street early Sunday morning found that the driver of this taxi full of passengers had no drivers licence. The blitz in the early hours of Sunday, June 16 forms part of a clampdown on illegal activities in the public transport sector. Picture Ian Landsberg

Published Mar 4, 2015

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Cape Town - Road deaths in the Western Cape have been cut by about 30 percent since the inception of the Safely Home campaign in 2009.

Transport MEC Donald Grant told a media briefing in Cape Town on Tuesday the December-January holidays death toll had reached 197. He said there had been a record low number of road deaths in January, with 76 lives lost, compared to 147 in January 2009. This represented a 48 percent reduction since the beginning of the campaign.

Grant said the statistics also showed a gradual change in behaviour and attitudes towards road safety among road users in the province, where lawlessness and a disregard for safety had reigned supreme.

“We have seen it replaced by more orderly driver behaviour,” he said. “Together, we are continuing to make our roads safer, and are seeing an increased number of citizens take responsibility for their lives, as well as the lives of others.”

Road injuries and deaths cost the Western Cape economy an estimated R21 billion a year.

At a national level, Grant said the picture was even worse, with an estimated 17 000 lives lost annually. He said the national Department of Transport estimated road trauma costs to the South African economy to be R306 billion annually – money that should be directed to improving levels of service delivery.

EFFORTS INTENSIFIED

Grant said the Western Cape remained the only province to operate a traffic enforcement service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Their efforts were intensified over the festive season with more round-the-clock enforcement operations which focused on driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding and driver fatigue.

Provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said enforcement activities saw 22 900 vehicles stopped as part of alcohol blitzes, with 13 950 drivers screened for alcohol, resulting in 275 arrests.

“A total of 1 502 manual speed offences were recorded, with 14 376 speed offences recorded by camera technology,” he said. “More than 7300 vehicles were stopped as part of our fatigue management campaign, with 393 drivers being made to rest before continuing on their journeys.”

According to the provincial traffic department, 105 603 vehicles were weighed as part of overload control efforts.

“Of these vehicles, 1988 drivers were prosecuted for overloading their vehicles. There were a total of 2560 public transport offences, with a total of 382 impoundments.”

The Argus

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