STATISTICS for road fatalities, injury and prosecution have been released for the 2022 to 2023 holiday period.
And over 1 451 people were killed on Mzansi roads during the festive season. This is a 13,9% decrease compared to the previous year’s 1 685.
MasterDrive CEO Eugene Herbert said the significance of this could not be underestimated as more cars were expected on the roads as the first holiday period since 2019 without lockdown restrictions.
“While data on the number of travellers is not as easily available, it is important nonetheless. An almost 14% decrease without lockdown contributing to the decrease, is something not seen in many years,” Herbert said.
“The objective should be to aim for the same decrease in coming years. This requires an analysis of what was done differently. It could be an increased police presence or more commitment to road safety initiatives, but this can only be answered by government and requires a comparison of the number of travellers,” he added.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula also revealed other significant data.
Gauteng was the only province to see an increase in fatality rates, and assumed the not-so-coveted position of the province with the highest number of fatalities. For many years, KZN had assumed this position.
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“Of continuing concern, however, is a 10% overall increase in pedestrian fatalities. In Gauteng and the Western Cape, 54% of fatalities were pedestrians. Of those killed in Gauteng, 156 of the 290 were pedestrians. In Western Cape, 70 of 131 of fatalities were also pedestrians. Despite continued efforts to reduce pedestrian deaths, South Africa still falls short,” Herbert said.
He added that while these stats were encouraging, more than 1 400 people still lost their lives.
