Festive month still taking a bloody toll on the roads

ROAD accidents have killed 676 people in 564 crashes since the beginning of the month, the Road Traffic Management Corporation said yesterday.

Mpumalanga roads have been the most dangerous, with 19 people dying and 18 injured in four fatal crashes. KwaZulu-Natal recorded 16 deaths and four injuries, followed by Eastern Cape with 10 deaths and seven injuries.

The province with the least road fatalities so far is Free State, with one death. Northern Cape and North West had five deaths each. Gauteng had six deaths and one injury.

In intensified traffic law enforcement, 301 drunk drivers have been arrested - 42 for speeding, 15 for reckless and negligent driving and 52 for overloading.

Out of 280633 vehicles stopped, 44788 drivers were issued with traffic law infringement notices, 686 unroadworthy vehicles were stripped of their licence discs and 594 were impounded.

Drunken driving, dangerous overtaking and speeding remained the major causes of fatal crashes, said the corporation. It warned there had been a high number of head-on collisions.