Festive season road deaths in Ekurhuleni highest in three years
Drunk driving and speeding were two of the major causes of these accidents
Forty-four people have died on accident scenes in Ekurhuleni from December 1 to January 2.
According to Ekurhuleni Metro Police spokesperson Chief Supt Wilfred Kgasago, 21 pedestrians, 13 passengers, seven drivers, two motorcyclists and one cyclist were killed during this period.
The number of pedestrians killed included two seven-year-old boys and one eight-year-old girl. Nine of the 21 pedestrians killed lost their lives on freeways, three on the N3, three on the N12 and three on the R21. All pedestrians killed were male saved for the seven-year-old girl, Kgasago said.
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“Of the thirteen passengers who were killed, six perished in a serious accident involving a minibus taxi which occurred on the M2 East at the Geldenhuys Interchange.
“One cyclist sustained fatal injuries in Tsakane. One driver died in Daveyton, one in Tsakane, one in Kwathema and one in Putfontein on the N12 eastbound. Two motorcyclists lost their lives on the R24 east at the N3 split and R59 northbound at the Reading interchange,” Kgasago added.
He said based on the physical evidence on the accident scenes, the fatal accidents could be attributed to drunk driving, excessive speeding, reckless and negligent driving, bad and attitude of drivers and failure on part of pedestrians to take proper care crossing the freeways.
In terms of the categorisation of accidents according to types of roads, 24 were killed on national roads (including 10 pedestrians), seven on provincial roads and 13 on CBD/suburban roads.
During the 2015 festive season, 35 people were killed and in 2016, 36 people lost their lives.
The 4 653 summonses issued were for documentation, equipment on vehicles, defects and moving violations.
Kgasago said 207 drivers were arrested for drinking and driving. 100 in the EMPD eastern operational region (Nigel, Springs, Brakpan, Duduza, Kwa-Thema, Etwatwa and Daveyton).
The northern operational region (Bromberg, Benoni, Edleen, Kempton Park, Edenvale, Tembisa (Winnie Mandela) saw 91 drivers arrested while the southern operational region had 16 behind bars.
Eighteen drivers were arrested for excessive speeding.
The metro’s call centre received 58 complaints involving fireworks to which the metro police responded and either gave a verbal warning or found the places quiet.
