The Automobile Association (AA) is concerned about the 2022 holiday season road fatalities presented by the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula.
Mbalula conducted a press conference on Tuesday, January 17 to reveal the official festive season road traffic data for the year 2022/23.
AA is concerned with road fatality statistics.
During the briefing, Mbalula disclosed that the number of road fatalities decreased from 1,685 to 1,451, a decrease of 13.9% compared to the same period of the previous year. However, according to the Automobile Association (AA), the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) recorded 1808 fatalities in 2021 and 2022, not 1685.
This calls into question the general accuracy of the numbers, a concern we have already emphasized. “Second, the rate of 1,451 fatalities is still too high and cannot be considered an improvement in road safety,” the report stated.
The association stated that it remained worried that traffic law enforcement is concentrated on seasonal efforts, particularly around Easter and the end of the year, rather than being equally apparent throughout the year.
“Minister Mbalula stated today that ‘enforcement is a vital component of road safety,’ but there is few sign that traffic law enforcement is being increased. The government-appointed Traffic Law Enforcement Review Committee advocated for a doubling of traffic law enforcers in 2019, although there is no indication that this advice has been adopted as of yet.
The number of fatalities continues disturbingly high from year to year, and there are no signs of a major decline. While we admire the commitment of traffic law enforcers across the nation, especially during peak travel hours, we feel that an increase in money and resources for traffic law enforcement is necessary to ensure a significant reduction in collisions and fatalities.”
During the holiday season of 2022, the majority of collisions happened between 17:00 and 22:00, particularly on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Light motor vehicles were involved in the most fatal collisions, followed by light delivery vehicles, minibuses, and trucks.
The contribution of light motor vehicles to fatal crashes was 39%, followed by light delivery trucks at 16%. Minibuses provided 7%, while trucks contributed 4%.
The majority of fatalities occurred between 15-21 and 22-28 December 2022. 327 and 316 fatalities were documented within this time frame, respectively.
»“Concerning”: The AA questions the 2022 holiday season traffic fatality statistics«