Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has welcomed the preliminary reports that suggest a decrease in crashes on the province’s roads during the 2023 festive season.
The Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) revealed that the province had reported a 13% decrease in crashes and a 10% decrease in fatalities.
RTI spokesperson Zinhle Mngomezulu said the numbers were compared with January 1 to 3, 2022. Mngomezulu warned that the figures could change because the roads are still busy.
“This is an update compared to a few days of January 2022. Figures can be compared from Monday to Sunday,” said Mngomezulu.
MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Sipho Hlomuka, said the department was pleased and satisfied with the decrease in road crashes and fatalities. Hlomuka said the province had set a target of 10% reduction in both.
“The indications currently are that we are at a 13% reduction. We are at a preliminary stage of the assessment with our performance. All indications are pointing to a decrease in both crashes and fatalities,” he said.
Hlomuka said more than 88 502 vehicles were stopped this festive season while more than 10 730 charges were meted out against road users who violated traffic regulations.
He said enforcement teams were still monitoring the movement of vehicles until the schools were re-opened.
“We are also encouraged by the work of our enforcement agencies,” said Hlomuka.
He said the province was still taking stock of the performance of the enforcement operations for the festive season.
“There are currently high volumes of traffic mainly on the N2 and N3. There are other provincial roads which are linking small towns which are heavily monitored by traffic enforcement, composed of the RTI, National Traffic Police (NTP) and local authorities,” said Hlomuka.
Meanwhile, DA KZN spokesperson on Transport, Sharon Hoosen, said if the decrease in crashes was true, it is most welcome.
However, she said it was easy to take glory for a decrease in road accidents.
Hoosen said the MEC should ensure that police visibility was increased for 365 days and not only a few weeks during the festive season.
“The fact remains that a higher police law enforcement equals a reduction in accidents. This has been a known fact. Last year we saw an unprecedented number of accidents and it was clear that the department was chasing its tails.
“The solutions are simple to ensure safer roads every day. Implementation is where the department constantly fails,” said Hoosen.
Daily News