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Easter weekend: Traffic volumes lower than expected so far
The long Easter weekend is notorious for fatal road crashes.
Long queues of motorists driving back from Limpopo on the N1 heading towards Pretoria after the Easter long weekend on 5 March 2021. Picture: Jacques Nelles
The Easter long weekend traffic volumes across South Africa so far have been much lower than that of last year.
The country’s interprovincial highways were expected to be extremely busy as thousands of people hit the road to visit their families for the Easter holiday, which usually experiences for high volumes of traffic and fatal car crashes.
The busiest routes at this time of the year include the N1 from Gauteng to Limpopo, the N3 from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal, the N2 from the Western Cape to Eastern Cape, the N14 to from Gauteng to the North-West and the N12.
‘It’s still early days’
At this stage, there has been minimal congestion on the roads, according to Deputy Transport Minister Lisa Mangcu.
“We are seeing a reduction of numbers countrywide between 4 000 and 5 000 less vehicles on the road than the previous year,” he told eNCA.
Mangcu, however, said there was an increase activity on the N3 heads towards KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
“We think it’s a good sign for recovery of the economy there after being battered by the floods [last April].”
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The minister did highlight that the department was seeing an increase in road accidents compared to last year, but refused to disclose any numbers.
“It’s still early days… we are still verifying these figures. We are not majorly concern, but we need to watch these numbers very closely.”
He added that there was no major incidents, particularly linked to reckless behavior from motorists.
“Yesterday, we were concern about the number of drivers exceeding the legal speed limit and that is always worrying because most crashes occur [due to] someone driving above the legal limit.”
Free State deaths
Three people have died in crashes on Free State roads since the start of the Easter weekend, SABC News has reported.
The Department of Police Roads and Transport, spokesperson Hillary Mophete revealed that the province’s roads have seen four crashes on Thursday and Friday.
Mophete also pointed out that traffic volumes were low so far.
“So, in comparison to the previous years, we note that there has been a decrease in the traffic volumes during this Easter compared to last year and indeed it is evident in the number of incidents as well as fatalities. We’ll continue to monitor the roads and give you updates,” she said.
Northern Cape collision
Meanwhile, two people were killed following a collision between a taxi and a light motor vehicle in Northern Cape on Thursday night.
At least 15 others were also injured in the accident which took place on the R31 outside Daniëlskuil.
“When ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene shortly before 8pm, they found the taxi in the field and the light motor vehicle lying on its roof on the road.
“Upon further assessment, two people were found to have sustained fatal injuries and were declared dead at the scene. Fifteen others were found to have sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious,” Arrive Alive said in a statement.
The injured patients were treated at the scene before being transported to hospital for further medical care.
The cause of the crash was unknown, with the police investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
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