Photo: ER24
Western Cape traffic: Road accident death toll rises to alarming 83 fatalities
Alarming figures and we are halfway through the festive season.
Photo: ER24
The Western Cape traffic department is worried about road safety after it revealed the current road accident death toll as of 1 December.
Many people have only just begun their holiday as many businesses closed off for the year. Around this time, the roads are filled with holidayers who take road trips to different corners of the country.
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Western Cape transport MEC reveals current road accident death toll
It is worrying that by mid-December there would be as many road accident fatalities as there currently are in the Western Cape.
The MEC for the Western Cape’s transport department, Donald Grant, revealed that since 1 December, there have been 83 road accident fatalities.
“We’ve been begging the motorists that they just obey the law, respect other road users, and if we do that we can bring it down,” he stated.
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According to Eyewitness News, 28 lives were lost on the road this past weekend alone. The majority of these lives were lost in a taxi crash on the N1 highway, a short distance outside Touwsriver.
The accident claimed the lives of 12 people (including three children), while another ten was rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Western Cape traffic vows to tighten security measures on roads
Grant stated that he was worried about the condition of the cars that people are driving in.
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“There was one minibus taxi we pulled over and all four of the tyres on that taxi were in shocking condition. Then we asked the driver to blow and he was at 0.6, which is almost three times the limit,” he added.
The transport MEC made it clear that traffic officers would be implementing strict protocol to curb the rising death toll. Drivers have been warned to avoid breaking the rules of the road or face serious repercussions.
