The Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula. File picture
THE AA and the Road Freight Association said the decrease in the number of road fatalities during the recent festive period compared with the previous year was encouraging and welcomed.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula announced on Tuesday that from December 1 to January 11 about 1,451 people died on South African roads compared with 1,685 fatalities in the previous year.
However, the AA said the number of deaths on the roads remained too high and required urgent intervention.
Mbalula noted this was a 14% reduction in the number of fatalities compared with the same period in 2021/22. The official recorded number of fatalities by the Road Traffic Management Corporation over the 2021/22 period was 1,808 fatalities, not 1,685.
“We have questioned the accuracy of the numbers provided overall, an issue raised before,” the AA said.
“Secondly, the rate of 1,451 fatalities is simply still too high, and cannot be regarded as a gain in terms of road safety.”
Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association, said any reduction in the number of deaths due to road crashes was very good news.
Mbalula said pedestrian fatalities remained a concern. They increased by 10% year on year, from 31% from the previous year to 41% this year.
“Out of every 100 road crash fatalities, 41% are pedestrians. Gauteng and the Western Cape pedestrians constitute 54% of all fatalities, implying that out of every 100 people that died in the road crashes, 54 were pedestrians,” said Mbalula.
In the 2022 festive period, most crashes occurred between 5pm and 10pm, particularly on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Mbalula said light motor vehicles contributed 39% of the total fatal crashes, followed by light delivery vehicles at 16%. Minibus vehicles contributed 7% and trucks 4%.
He added that in the 2022/23 festive season “significant gains in dealing with road fatalities” were recorded.
Mbalula said that there was a 6.5% reduction in fatal crashes compared with the previous year when 1,295 fatal crashes were recorded compared with 1,211 this year.
“Human error remains a principal driver of fatalities on our roads, accounting for 87% of all crashes. These are followed by road and environmental factors at 8%, with vehicle factors at 5%,” Mbalula said.
Driver fatalities declined from 28% in the previous period to 27% in this festive season. Cyclist fatalities also declined from 3% in the previous period to 2% in the current festive season.
Mbalula advised that road users should at all times appreciate that the road was a shared space and drivers had the responsibility to look out for pedestrians.
Mbalula said law enforcement interventions were critical in reducing the carnage on the roads during the festive season.
“Over 370 joint operations were executed during the period under review, in line with the focus areas presented on December 8, which focused on pedestrian enforcement, vehicle roadworthiness, public passenger transport, drunken driving, execution of warrants of arrest and speed law enforcement.”
Mbalula added that 474 roadblocks were held during the festive season, with over 1.3 million vehicles stopped and checked. He said over 255,000 notices were issued during this period.