The Eastern Cape Department of Transport has since the beginning of December 2017 stepped up its operations in enforcing traffic law and promoting road safety as citizens prepare for the festive season rush.
The festive season period is generally characterised by high traffic volumes on different routes in the Eastern Cape. Apart from the industry shutdown and school holidays, the period is also characterised by religious pilgrimage and mass events.
The operations which are implemented jointly with the South African Police Service include increased visibility of traffic law enforcement officers on the road in an effort to reduce road crashes.
Since the beginning of the month (December) over 20 000 vehicles were stopped and checked. About 2134 summons were issued while 39 people were arrested for various offences including drunk and driving. In addition to this and 82 warrant of arrest amongst others.
“We want to ensure the safety of all road users. Irresponsible, reckless and negligent behaviour on the road is not acceptable and our officers will immediately deal with risky behaviour on our roads,” says MEC for Transport Safety and Liaison, Weziwe Tikana.
The Eastern Cape last year recorded a 20% reduction in road fatalities, bringing the number down from 265 in 2015/16 to 211 in 2016/17 and the operations are geared towards reducing this number further.
“Traffic is beginning to pick up on our roads and we are calling on both public transport operators and other motorists to refrain from overloading. We have noted a worrying trend in the both the public transport (taxi) and sedans where vehicles are overloaded and goods are loaded on the passenger compartment.” “This kind of behaviour increases the risk of fatal and serious injuries in the event of an accident,” says MEC.
Both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day this year falls on a Monday making it a long weekend. “We expect an increase in traffic on those long weekends and we will be on high alert as the risk of road crashes increases. Our operations will intensify during both weekends.”
In addition to checking if a vehicle is roadworthy, motorists are advised that their vehicle disks will be removed if their vehicles are without the front or rear number plates as well as if they use blue and unauthorised lamps.