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KwaZulu-Natal - In view of the alarmingly high rate of road accidents in KwaZulu-Natal, the Inkatha Freedom Party calls for an immediate and drastic change of attitude to stem the increasing number of road fatalities.
This follows the horror crash which claimed the lives of eight people on the N2 Ezingolweni when a bakkie collided with a truck last week Monday (January 15).
READ: SA festive season road deaths: 1527 killed, 11% decrease
The death toll over the 2017/2018 festive season has decreased to 1527, an 11% decline from the previous year, reports SA Transport Minister, Joe Maswanganyi.
The department released statistics in Pretoria.
According to the minister, 1714 deaths were recorded during 2016/2017 festive period.
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IFP KZN Provincial Transport spokesperson, Steven Moodley MPL, says: "Far too many lives have been lost on our province’s roads as a consequence of negligent driving, speeding, a blatant disregard for rules of the road as well as driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
"The reckless actions of drivers have resulted in many fatalities and it is imperative for drivers to change their attitudes and be cognisant of the fact that their irresponsible attitude is risking the lives of innocent people."
Moodley says: "Though traffic laws are in place, it needs to be stringently and effectively implemented. There is a need to review penalties by increasing fines and imposing jail terms as a deterrent to reckless driving. It has been found that sudden deviation or swerving is the single highest cause of collisions as in most cases drivers are simply not bothered to use their indicator. It is this type of behaviour that risks lives and is born out of ignorance, carelessness or sheer disregard for rules."
“We are aware that many young drivers are casualties on our province’s roads as there are too many reports of yet another young life snuffed out in an accident. Many attempts to drastically reduce the death toll have failed. Let us focus on improving the attitudes if the young driver through the young driver road safety system . A young drivers attitude is different to their older counterparts and programmes must target social media to drive home the message that Road safety begins with all of us,” concluded Hon Moodley.
JPSA responds
Justice Project SA chairman Howard Dembovsky says: "While it is encouraging to see that some progress has been made, our road fatalities remain unacceptably high and outside of international norms.
"The stepped up law enforcement and visibility during the festive season merely goes to prove that visible law enforcement does have an effect on driver compliance, thus reducing crashes. If such enforcement were to be practised all year round, not just over the festive season it is arguable that significantly more progress would be made."
