Johannesburg - Motorists are 25% more likely to be involved in a car crash this Heritage Day long weekend, an insurer has warned, with four out of 10 of those involved in accidents likely to be severely injured.
Using historical data from motor vehicle claims, Auto and General Insurance said long weekends were usually followed by road carnage in South Africa.
The JMPD’s spokesperson Wayne Minnaar also warned motorists against driving at excessively high speeds, unsafe overtaking and driving recklessly, saying this caused accidents on the roads.
“The offences, which occur most frequently over long weekends, are excessive high speed, unsafe overtaking, driving recklessly, overloading and driving with tyres that don’t meet roadworthy standards,” he said.
Auto and General’s head of insurance, Ricardo Coetzee, said motorists should drive safely on the roads to mitigate unnecessary road crashes.
“Road safety, however, should never be a negotiable. Much as you can escape relatively unscathed from some accidents, others could leave you with thousands of rand in damage, injury, disability or worse. You might think, ‘it can’t happen to me’, until it does,” he said.
Motorists have been advised to ensure their vehicles are in a roadworthy state before taking a long road trip this weekend.
Some of the common issues to look out for include ensuring tyres were in a roadworthy state, brakes, suspension, filters, lights, windows and wipers, suspension, battery, belts and chains, cooling system, filters and fluids, safety and warning equipment and child car seats.
These can typically be checked at home or for free (in some instances) at tyre dealerships.
Motorists have also been reminded to rest when fatigued and to always keep a safe following distance of between two to three seconds.
IOL