Question NW2242 to the Minister of Transport

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17 June 2022 - NW2242

Profile picture: Sithole, Mr KP

Sithole, Mr KP to ask the Minister of Transport

Given that in the past weekend of 27 to 29 May 2022 fatalities were noted due to vehicular collisions on our national roads, two of which occurred on the N3, what (a) total number of fatal car accidents has his department recorded from 1 January 2022 up to the latest specified date for which information is available, (b) were the recorded causes in each case and (c) measures have been implemented to prevent the recurrence of such accidents?

Reply:

a) The following table shows the fatal crashes and fatalities from 1 Jan 2022 to 31 May 2022 per province

Province

Fatal Crashes

EC

443

FS

207

GP

733

KZN

641

LP

408

MP

262

NC

116

NW

249

WC

475

Grand Total

3534

b) Recorded causes in each of the 2 cases

According the information received from the crash investigation team, the causes of the two crashes on the N3 were as follows;

  • Saturday 28 May 2022 Fatal crash ;
  • The accident involved 2 trucks which were both travelling on the fast lanes prohibited for trucks at the said location, at speeds too high for the conditions where upon the one which had mechanical brake failure fatally ramped at the back of another resulting in the high number of the 16 fatalities recorded .
  • There is proper signage channelising heavy trucks into a single left lane but from time-to-time drivers ignore the road signs and utilise the right hand lanes exclusively reserved for light motor vehicles.
  • Since the road construction begun in the area there has been a number of accidents caused by drivers who were travelling at high speeds for conditions and not reducing speeds as expected.
  • Sunday 29 May 2022 Fatal crash ;

According to the crash investigation team there were no signs of attempted braking during the crash identified at the scene which supports the suspicion of fatigue as the main cause of the crash resulting in the high number of the 10 fatalities recorded. The stretch of road where the fatal crash occurred is not a high risk crash site and this was an isolated incident.

c) measures have been implemented to prevent the recurrence of such accidents.

  • In relation to the KZN N3 Peter town identified high risk area the KZN Provincial Traffic have engaged Sanral to extend the channelising signages further down past the mall and have prioritised the deployment of officers from 22H00 to 06H00 until the end of the road construction.
  • In relation to the N3 Grootvlei fatal crash the Mpumalanga Provincial Traffic will closely monitor the area through the current N3 team assigned to that stretch of the road.

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