Road death toll passes 500 mark

File picture

File picture

Published Dec 20, 2015

Share

By Saturday, the festive season death toll had surpassed the 500 mark and calls for behavioural change were being repeated as a high visibility of law enforcers failed to prevent the carnage on our roads.

About 1 368 people were killed during the festive season last year and if the current accident trend continues in coming days, the 2015 death toll could be the deadliest in recent years.

Concern was raised in particular about the death toll in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, which had already recorded more than 100 fatalities each.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation said at least three-quarters of the country’s traffic officers were on duty to try to limit the number of road fatalities.

On Wednesday, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters confirmed 487 people had been killed in accidents between December 1 and 13.

On Friday, two women were killed and another critically injured in a head-on collision on the N3 highway near the Mariannhill Toll Plaza at about 5pm.

Metro police deputy head Steve Middleton warned drunk driving roadblocks would be set up along the beachfront.

Independent Media

* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.

Related Topics: