The Western Cape Government has made every effort to ensure safe roads over the festive season. Our Provincial traffic officers remain the only traffic service to operate a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year traffic enforcement service. This will be intensified over the upcoming festive season.
There will be more round-the-clock enforcement operations over this festive season focussed on:
1. Driving under the influence of alcohol
2. Excessive speed
3. Average Speed Over Distance (ASOD)
4. Driver Fatigue management
5. Driver/vehicle fitness
6. Distracted driving
7. Pedestrian safety
8. Seatbelt compliance
9. Inter provincial operations
10. Licencing plates
11. Safe following distances
12. Transportation of illegal substances/elicit cigarettes
We have just recently extended our successful Average Speed Over Distance (ASOD) camera enforcement system to cover a larger part of the notorious stretch of the N1 from Laingsburg to Touwsrivier in the Western Cape. This is the fifth phase of this enforcement technology - now covering a total of 423.2 kms of road in the province. It has seen a substantial decrease in both road fatalities, as well as speed violations on the province’s most dangerous roads, the N1, the R61, and the R27. The system will be extended also to parts of the N2, including Sir Lowry’s Pass.
Motorists must:
- Not speed
- Not drink and drive
- Be extra mindful of pedestrians (who make up close to half of all the fatalities in the province)
- Not use cellphones while driving
- Ensure that they buckle up, and most importantly that children in the vehicle are buckled up
Apart from roadside activities, traffic officials will also promote visible traffic policing and operational readiness, including the further implementation of our successful “sticker project”, targeted specifically at public transport vehicles that will be embarking on long trips across the province, and beyond, transporting thousands of holiday-makers to their various destinations.
We will work closely with our partners over this festive season to ensure safety for all over this festive season, including our partnership with the South African National Taxi Council’s (SANTACO) "Hlokomela" project, whose goal it is to "change the face of the taxi industry", through its road safety initiative. I am pleased to know that industry leaders will be assisting our officials at ranks and road blocks to identify unroadworthy vehicles and address drivers on safety and the need for regular rests.
I should like to take this opportunity to extend a word of thanks to our partners in the SAPS, Municipal traffic authorities and the Metro Police, the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town, SARS, the NPA, SANRAL, the RTMC, and Home Affairs. We truly are Better Together, and our collective efforts will continue to save lives on our roads.
Road users are encouraged to make use of emergency contact numbers to contact the authorities over this very busy period on our roads:
Emergency Traffic Control Centre: 021 812 4581
Roadside Emergencies: 10177
City of Cape Town Communications Centre: 021 596 1999
It is important for all road users to begin to identify themselves with the many that make responsible decisions on our roads, and value their lives as well as the lives of others. The burden of ensuring that we get Safely Home falls upon us all equally, from drivers, cyclist, passengers, to motor-cyclists and pedestrians. We are ALL road users; we all need to show respect to one another on the roads, while taking responsibility for our own lives, as well as those of our loved ones.
