ROAD DEATHS: TRANSPORT MINISTER WANTS TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THIS YEAR

Mon 02 December 2024:

A fresh approach to road safety will be taken this festive season, transport minister Barbara Creecy has announced. Boots will be on the ground at specific hotspots at certain times of the day, and a wider education campaign will be in place.

“We are trying something new this year,” the minister said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Sunday. She launched the festive season road safety campaign in Hammanskraal, Gauteng, earlier in the day.

The festive season is often marred by carnage on the roads. Last year, 1 427 people died in road accidents during the holiday period alone. Most fatalities were recorded on Sundays.

This year, she said, there is no target. Instead, the campaign is part of a broader strategy to reduce road deaths by 50% by the year 2030. Hotspots will receive particular attention.

“We are planning to deploy our own national traffic police to those hotspots. We’re also asking all our provinces and municipalities to do a similar breakdown of where the most accidents and most fatalities occur and to place officers on the beat.”

“We know that accidents happen at night, we know that accidents happen on the weekends and we know some of the locations where they occur. We are trying to make police more visible as one form of deterrent.”

At the same time, there is a need to rectify behaviour on the roads.

“We understand that enforcement is part of the story, but changing driver behaviour and changing pedestrian behaviour is a very important aspect if we are going to achieve our objectives in the longer term,” she said.

She implored drivers to avoid driving under the influence of alcohol, while tired and while texting.