South Africa’s Department of Transport has reiterated its appeal to motorists to reduce their speed on national roads in anticipation of traffic exodus at the end of the holidays, government news agency BuaNews reported on Monday.
The Department’s plea follows statistics indicating that, despite the low number of deaths of national roads this festive season, the number of drivers not keeping to the speed limit has increased to a new record of 39% in 2003 when compared to last year’s national average of 28%. The statistics are based on the 2003 Road Traffic Offence Survey commissioned by the department, in order to combat the occurrence of road traffic accidents and to plan and undertake road traffic safety programmes.
The Department’s General Manager of Land Transportation Regulation, Wendy Watson, warned that speed remained an immense problem and continued to increase particularly as traffic volumes had risen by 5-6%.
”This is especially worrying in the light of the 5-6% increase in holiday traffic. As more people return from their holidays, we are urging them not to take chances with their lives. Speeding is just not worth it,” said Watson.
The results show that 80,2% of light vehicles (motorcars and LDV’s (”bakkies”) exceed the speed limit of 60km/h on urban streets in Gauteng. In Mpumalanga, the figure is 71,3%, followed by Limpopo at 64,2% and the Eastern Cape with 58,2%.
The highest percentage of light vehicles exceeding the limit on the rural road network is in the Free State with 36,4%, followed by Gauteng with 34,7%.
The figures are substantiated by information received on a daily basis from traffic counting stations on the national road network, the department said.
With regard to trucks, the survey shows that 41% of trucks in Mpumalanga exceeded the speed limit in urban areas, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 39,8% and 37,5% in the Free State.
On the rural road network, 62,6% of the trucks in North West exceeded the set limit of 80km/h, followed by 55,2% in Mpumalanga, 52,1% in the Free State and 48,1% in the Western Cape.
In terms of buses, 37,7% exceeded the speed limit of 60km/h in urban areas and 32,7% exceeded the limit of 100km/h set for buses on 120km/h in rural roads.
However, the survey shows that there were some improvements, as urban speed
offences have significantly dropped in the Northern Cape and the Western Cape,
and with rural speed offence levels also down in Mpumalanga and the Western
Cape. – Sapa