Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has urged South Africans to educate one another about road safety, especially during peak seasons.
"Let us be each other's keepers," she told NGOs in Midrand.
The responsibility for road safety could not be left only to traffic law enforcement agencies.
"We invite everyone to open up and say what is it that we are not doing which could change the tragic picture of crashes on our roads, and get each person to take responsibility for themselves and others."
The department would hold a regular series of interactions with the public to increase awareness of road safety. It also intended establishing a special telephone number for members of the public to report reckless driving.
"All major road accidents could have been avoided. In the past 18 days, 78 people died and 79 were injured due to recklessness," Peters said.
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