Cape Town – Twenty people have died in road accidents in the Western Cape over the past week.
Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell said between November 7 and 13, a total of 19 road accidents were reported, resulting in 20 fatalities.
The fatalities involved eight drivers; six pedestrians; four passengers; one motorcyclist; and motorcycle passenger.
Mitchell said pedestrians were almost always killed in collisions with vehicles travelling more than 60km/h.
“Slowing down will give you more time to avoid pedestrians in the road.
“If you are travelling more slowly and you collide with a pedestrian, the pedestrian is more likely to survive.
“Be particularly careful when you come across child pedestrians.
“They may behave unpredictably and may struggle to understand how quickly a vehicle is moving.
“Because children are short, in a collision, they are likely to be hit in the head and chest, and are therefore more likely to be killed,” Mitchell warned.
The Western Cape provincial traffic services implemented a total of 222 integrated roadblocks, vehicle checkpoints and speed control operations across the province in the week of November 7 to 13, 2022 and 32 320 vehicles were stopped and checked.
A total of 9 107 fines were issued for various traffic violations ranging from driver to vehicle fitness.
The highest speeds recorded during that week were as follows:
∎ 165km/h in a 120km/h zone.
∎ 144km/h in a 100km/h zone.
∎ 124km/h in an 80km/h zone.
∎ 104km/h in a 60km/h zone.
Cape Times