Overloading is one of the contributors of road crashes in the province; this is according to Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Mr Vusi Shongwe.
Shongwe says that the province is very alert during this time of the year where there is high traffic volume, in particular vehicles transporting goods and passengers.
“We have put in place plans to be implemented in case we experience a high volume of traffic. Traffic officers will also be patrolling in all routes leading to weigh bridges to make sure that all goods and passenger vehicles are weighed.
“We have been informed that some motorists use escape routes where there are no weighbridges; that is why we are deploying traffic officers in all the said escape routes to divert these vehicles to mobile weigh bridges,” says Shongwe.
On 15 December 2015, the MEC together with the management of the department supported operations held at different weigh bridges of the province.
During the operations, 665 vehicles were weighed and 75 motorists were charged for overloading. Among the vehicles that were weighed, 21 of them were found un-roadworthy and were issued with notices to discontinue.
MEC Shongwe says that compared to previous years, the number of charges have decreased and it shows that drivers are beginning to comply.
“We will not stop until all road users comply; we want to thank the motorists who always adhere to the regulations and warn those who still take the law for granted. We also request passengers to be patient with law enforcers because all the operations conducted on the road and weigh bridges are essential to road safety,” Shongwe said.
Meanwhile, in other law enforcement operations that were conducted yesterday [16 December 2015], 29 motorist were arrested for different violations. 25 of them were nabbed for drunk driving while others were caught for excessive speeding and other violations. 496 drivers were fined for speeding while 110 were fined for overtaking on barrier line.
More than 1360 fines were also issued to motorists for various traffic violations while 29 vehicles were discontinued for being un-roadworthy.
In terms of road crashes, the province recorded 281 crashes that occurred between 01 and 16 December 2015. Preliminary reports indicate that 43 people have been killed in these crashes while 517 were injured. The department requests road users to be vigilant at all times and they should ensure that they are fit before undertaking any long distance trip.
