NKOMAZI – Mpumalanga MEC for community safety Pat Ngomane on Tuesday expressed concern at the increased number of deaths of pedestrians on the roads in the province during the 2017/2018 festive season.

Ngomane said 61 pedestrians were killed on the roads in different parts of the province between December 1 and January 15, compared to 43 pedestrians who perished during the 2016/17 festive season.

“The increasing number of pedestrians dying on the roads is alarming and can never be acceptable,” said Ngomane while speaking in Nkomazi after holding a meeting with traffic officers.

“We need to continue to focus more on awareness campaigns and education of pedestrians. We have also seen that most crashes happen due to human error. Traffic and police officials must continue to arrest those breaking the law. We also fully support the call to reclassify some of the traffic offences as schedule 5 offences, particularly drunk driving, reckless and negligent driving.” 

Ngomane said 181 people died in road crashes in the province during the 2017/2018 festive season, while 196 died during the same period in the previous festive season. He said the figures meant that his department still had a long way to go to successfully reduce road crashes and fatalities.

“We can therefore not celebrate these reductions but we can only build on these reductions,” Ngomane said.

“We have recorded a 7.65 percent decline in road fatalities as compared to the previous year. On the other hand, road crashes increased from 812 to 891. In total, 1632 people sustained injuries emanating from 891 road crashes. Remember, crashes do not only lead to death on the road but many people sustain injuries while some end with permanent physical disabilities.”

Over 700 motorists were arrested in Mpumalanga roads for various traffic violations since the beginning of December last year, added Ngomane. He said 509 of these motorists were arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.

Ngomane said the N4 toll road recorded most of the crashes, followed by R40 and R753 roads. 

African News Agency