A total of\u00a0287 people were killed in road accidents over the four-day Easter break, 139 more people than in 2014.<\/p>\n
In addition to this a\u00a0total of 820 people were arrested for drunken driving and\u00a0over a thousand unroadworthy vehicles were taken off the road.<\/p>
This is according to the statistics released by\u00a0Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.<\/p>\n
Speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol were some of the main contributors to the number of accidents, with KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo recording the highest numbers of fatalities (55 and 44 respectively).<\/p>
This sharp increase has left officials puzzled and scrambling for answers.<\/p>\n
“This is disheartening, it’s discouraging and shows that South Africans don’t want to live,” said Peters.<\/p>\n
The Minister admits there\u2019s a crisis with the quality of driving on the roads.<\/p>\n
She noted that most crashes happened during the early hours of the morning when law enforcement officers were no longer on patrol.<\/p>\n
“We need more men and women and it will mean we need three times the size of personnel that we have at present and we need a budget.<\/p>\n
“If you don’t practice driving, you lose the skill.<\/p>\n
“It’s important that we test motorists when they renew their licences so we can be sure that they are still able to drive,” she concluded.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n