The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) on Tuesday said early indications suggest there has been a sharp rise in the festive season death toll in 2010.
Provincial traffic centres are still crunching numbers, but initial figures suggest more than 900 people have died on the country’s roads. The death toll is expected to top the 1,000 mark shortly.
Most of the accidents occurred on secondary routes.
RTMC spokesperson Ashref Ismail said, “It is very bleak indeed. At the end of the day we had expected a 50 percent reduction, given the good track record we had with the World Cup, but clearly, it seems not to be the case.
Ismail said they are deploying more officers to secondary routes as they have noticed motorists are using back roads to avoid law enforcement officers, heavy traffic and toll fees.
[Story by Chantall Presence appeared on Euewitness News]