Officials have stopped and checked 1 141 447 vehicles and drivers in 988 road-blocks throughout the country since December 1 as part of the Arrive Alive road safety campaign, the Transport Department said on Monday.
It said 3 939 people were arrested for drunk driving, 298 for reckless and negligent driving and 155 for overloading.
In addition, 186 public transport drivers were arrested, 214 arrests were made pertaining to driving licences and false documentation and 3 305 unroadworthy vehicles – including 1 737 buses and taxis – were removed from the roads.
Speeding fines were imposed on 297 000 motorists, with thousands more fined for not wearing seatbelts and other offences, department spokesperson Logan Maistry said in a statement.
On Sunday, the driver of an overloaded minibus taxi was caught travelling 156km/h in a 120km/h zone on the N2 near Sezela in KwaZulu-Natal, while a motorist was arrested for doing 202km/h in a 120km/h zone on the N2 near Fairbreeze in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday, he said.
Maistry said preliminary reports indicated that 315 people had died in 253 crashes on the country’s roads between January 1 and January 17. They included 90 drivers, 135 passengers and 90 pedestrians.
In December, 1 050 people died on South Africa’s roads. Of these, 276 were drivers, 419 passengers and 355 pedestrians.
Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has called on vehicle manufacturers, public and private donors, non-governmental organisations, the religious sector, victims of road crashes, families of those killed and injured in road crashes and experts to partner with government to do much more towards safer roads.
“Together, we must all do much more to reduce the economic and emotional devastation caused by road crashes and road deaths,” he said, adding that road traffic deaths and injuries were preventable.
“The millions of people who use our roads every day deserve safer roads,” Ndebele said. – Sapa