EASTERN CAPE - FESTIVE ROAD DEATH TOLL UP FROM PREVIOUS YEARS

Provincial traffic officers searched 13 4291 vehicles and issued more than 16 000 fines for traffic violations on the Eastern Cape’s main roads over the festive season.

Eastern Cape Department of Transport spokesman Ncedo Kumbaca said yesterday that the official death toll for the province for the 2015-16 festive season was up from previous years.

Official statistics would, however, only be made public by the Road Traffic Management Corporation at the end of January.

“Despite the increase in the death toll on the province’s roads, we want to acknowledge the good work provincial traffic officials have done,” Kumbaca said.

By December 28, the death toll on the province’s roads was already standing at 171.

This was more than the death toll for the entire 2014-15 festive season.

Kumbaca said the initial goal of stopping and checking 85000 vehicles in the province in December was surpassed by far, with traffic officers inspecting 134291 vehicles between December 1 and January 4.

Here is what provincial traffic officials did this past December:

l134291 vehicles were stopped and checked;

l16579 fines and notices to appear in court were issued for speeding and other traffic violations;

l308 vehicles were removed from the road and declared unroadworthy;

l124 motorists were arrested for drunken driving;

l146 other arrests were made;

l250 outstanding warrants of arrest were carried out; and

l114 stray animals were impounded.

Kumbaca said the most vehicles were stopped at roadblocks but some motorists were pulled over by traffic officials.

He said provincial traffic officials managed to maintain high visibility on the province’s roads.

On December 29, the most vehicles that were stopped were in the Sarah Baartman municipality, the province’s biggest district municipality that surrounds Nelson Mandela Bay.

The municipality includes some of the province’s most popular holiday destinations such as Jeffreys Bay, St Francis Bay, and the Baviaanskloof, as well as the major access routes into the province through Graaff-Reinet.

On this day, 1680 vehicles were checked by traffic officials in Sarah Baartman and 128 notices to appear in court for traffic violations were issued.

In this district, another 843 vehicles were checked on New Year’s Eve and 519 on New Year’s Day.

Over these two days, traffic officials fined 153 motorists for traffic violations.

Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesman Simon Zwane said the biggest causes of road accidents on the province’s main roads this festive season were stray animals, drunk driving and speeding

VIA - dispatchlive.co.za