28th December, 2012
South Africa’s Transport Minister, Ben Martins, said 42 people, on the average, were killed per day on the country’s roads since the beginning of December, making the country’s roads, the most dangerous on the continent.
Egypt comes second with an average of 15,000 deaths yearly.
“It very sad and heartbreaking that on an average 42 people per day were killed on the country’s roads since the beginning of December. It cannot be considered normal inspite of all efforts by government, private sector and civil society to enforce the rules of the road and raise awareness about road safety, yet we continue to witness the loss of lives on our roads at this scale,” Martins said.
“We cannot sit back and watch our people being killed in this manner. Any motorists who breaks traffic laws will be arrested. According to the minister, the high number of fatalities on the country’s roads emphasise the need for a national dialogue.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), from the figures released by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), more than 1,068 people had been killed in various accidents since the beginning of December.
RTMC said it was disappointed with the rise in road fatalities. About 16,000 people died in various road accidents in the country in 2010.
Meanwhile, in the Western Cape traffic authorities said more than 170 people were arrested for drunk driving in December alone.
According to Kenny Africa, traffic officer in the province, road accidents have claimed the lives of 145 people since the beginning of December.
He said that drunk driving remained a problem in the country. “This is worrying because we want drunk drivers to be off our roads. Our traffic officers are out in full force ensuring that drunken drivers are off our roads,” Africa said.
He warned motorists not to get behind the wheel of a car if they have had too many drink.
NAN reports that between Dec. 1 2010 and Jan. 10, 2011, a total of 1, 771 people died in road accidents in the country.
The road fatalities in South Africa however are smaller compared with the heart breaking records of India, China, Russia, Mexico, United States and Brazil. India has the record of the highest road fatalities in the world, averaging over 100,000 a year.