The Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) has welcomed reports from the provincial Minister of Transport and Public Works, Daylin Mitchell, that there was a “notable” decrease in road fatalities in the province over the festive season.
He said the decrease was recorded despite the higher traffic volumes.
He said the figures represent a significant improvement, praising the Western Cape Traffic Services for their operations on the provincial roads.
However, Mitchell said he noted with concern the high number of drunk driving arrests week on week.
“Driving when you have been drinking is dangerous, regardless of how much, or how little, you drink. Alcohol affects your judgement and slows down your ability to respond in an emergency,” he said.
“You are likely to drive faster than you usually do, and less carefully.”
Traffic Services conducted a total of 310 integrated roadblocks, vehicle check points and speed control operations across the province from Monday 3 to Sunday 9 January. A total of 39 698 vehicles were stopped and checked, with 454 speeding offences recorded. A staggering 11 685 fines were issued for various traffic violations amounting to R11 445 250.
A total of 51 vehicles were impounded and 125 were discontinued for unroadworthiness.
Andile Khanyi, Codeta’s spokesperson, told City Vision they were strict with their drivers and owners, especially those that drive long distances. “If we found that your vehicle was in poor condition, we took the commuters and put them in a safer vehicle without any negotiations. Unroadworthy vehicles result in many accidents and in some cases lead to people sleeping along the roads as these cars break down,” he said.
Khanyi said as an organisation they also kept an eye on overloading, while encouraging their drivers to maintain the legal speed on the road.
“As Codeta we also had our committee that monitored all the vehicles that were going to be on the road, in all this trying to ensure safety of those we ferry to different destinations. The issues of drunk driving and use of a cellphone while driving was another problem that we monitored. We told our drivers that it is very dangerous,” said Khanyi. Although there were still fatalities, Khanyi expressed optimism into the future.
According to provincial traffic authorities the highest recorded speeds were as follows:
- 161 km/h in a 120 km/h zone,144 km/h in a 100 km/h zone, 124 km/h in an 80 km/h zone, and 104 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.
A total of 54 arrests were made for the following offences: 23 for driving under the influence of alcohol, four for speeding, six for reckless and negligent driving, 12 for possession of fraudulent documentation and five for inducing an authorised officer or peace officer to act in conflict with his/ her duty.
- One each of the following: undocumented person, theft of property (copper cables) possession of dagga and pedestrian arrest (source of danger).
Fatalities recorded between 3 and 9 January: A total of 23 crashes occurred in the reporting period, and 25 fatalities were recorded:
- One cyclist, six drivers, two motorcyclists, seven passengers and nine pedestrians.
Mitchell appealed to all road users to be responsible, practise patience, avoid reckless and negligent driving, as end-of-year festivities come to an end.
He also thanked all law enforcement and emergency employees for their hard work during the holidays.
