33 people killed on Ekurhuleni roads in two months

Thirty-three people died on deadly crashes that happened on Ekurhuleni roads in the period between December 1 and January 22. Picture: Rescue Care

Thirty-three people died on deadly crashes that happened on Ekurhuleni roads in the period between December 1 and January 22. Picture: Rescue Care

Published Jan 25, 2021

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A worrying 33 deaths occurred in crashes on Ekurhuleni roads between December 1 and January 22. The majority of those killed were pedestrians.

According to the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department’s (EMPD) Kobeli Mokheseng, three of the deceased were passengers, 10 were drivers and 20 were pedestrians.

“Based on the physical evidence, on the accident scenes, the fatal accidents can be attributed to drunk driving, excessive speeding, reckless and negligent driving, bad demeanour, wicked attitude of drivers and failure, on part of pedestrians to take proper care and crossing of the freeways,” he said.

Mokheseng said nine of fatalities happened on national roads. Twelve, he said, died on provincial and the other 12 on urban roads.

He said in 2018, 38 people were killed around this period while the number declined to 18 the following year.

“As the EMPD, we will continue to be visible and enforce the law in the South, North and Eastern regions of the City. Working together with other law enforcement agencies, on different crime prevention operations, makes a huge positive impact in an attempt, to eradicate criminality and it is ongoing.”

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and Road Traffic Management Corporation chief executive advocate Makhosini Msibi recently released the 2020 festive season road statistics from December 1 to January 11, showing that traffic volumes had decreased from previous years which led to fewer road fatalities.

The Department of Transport ended the 2020 festive season road safety campaign on a positive note after eight provinces recorded a decline in road fatalities.

IOL

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