It’s the start of the festive season in South Africa with people taking their annual leave and either heading home or on holiday, and already during the first week of December, 218 people had been killed on the country’s roads, compared to 205 last year.
The road traffic management corporation (RMTC) says that they hope to have 17000 of the 21 000 traffic officers in the country on the roads this festive season at regular intervals on all major routes. The rush to get to the coast and other destinations began on Friday.With traffic volumes expected to peak at around 2000 cars passing through toll gates to Durban, alone.
The RTMC is responsible for the road safety campaigns throughout the year. It appears some progress is being made… But the main causes of accidents remain drunk driving, speed, and fatigue. The authorities are trying to bring those deaths down. Shock tactics are the name of the game, from crashed cars with messages on them to people in wheelchairs at filling stations, sharing information. It’s a hard hitting campaign and drivers arriving at this particular filling station and rest point are made to feel uncomfortable.
