Road accidents death toll on the rise. And it’s not yet over as motorists are expected to head back to their homes later this week.
AS the festive season comes to an end, hundreds of motorists have died on Mzansi’s roads. The Road Traffic Management Corporation has urged motorists to drive carefully.
Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa said: “People are taking on these long-distance trips and just don’t listen when advised to rest every two hours,” he said.
He said other factors that cause crashes include using phones while behind the heel and drunken driving. He said pedestrians make up a large number of the fatalities, which are caused mainly by not following road rules, such as crossing at undesignated points.
Africa said he was shocked by the rate of fatalities this year, compared with previous years. ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said they found two wrecked cars in the middle of a road.
“A woman was found in one vehicle and a man in the other,” he said. “Unfortunately, nothing could be done for them and they were declared dead,” said Meiring.
He said in another accident on Monday evening, paramedics found the body of a nine-year-old boy lying dead in the fast lane of the R103 in Roosboom, KZN. “The vehicle that had hit the boy was found a short distance away.”
