THE national road death toll since the summer holidays began on December 1 reached 993 by Sunday night and was expected to climb with the big rush home this weekend, the Department of Transport said in Pretoria on Monday. By January 7 last year, the national road death toll between December 2000 and January 2001 had reached 851. In a statement on the latest statistics, department representative Mike Mabasa said 904 people including drivers, passengers and pedestrians were killed on national roads between December 1 and December 31 last year, with the highest number of people (361) killed in KwaZulu-Natal. Mabasa said 89 people were killed since January 1 this year, with the highest toll of 23 people being killed in the Eastern Cape. Speeding, drunk driving, driver fatigue and pedestrian jay-walking continued to be the main human factors responsible for the road carnage. Mechanical faults and road conditions also played a part. – Sapa