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It's only halfway through the festive season and already more than 560 people have died on the roads.
According to a Sapa report, "Figures provided by the police to the national fatal accident information centre indicate that 564 lives have been lost as a result of 471 reported crashes with an additional 71 crashes still being followed up," said department spokesman Collen Msibi.
Roughly 119 people have been killed in accidents in Gauteng, 86 in KwaZulu-Natal, 58 in the Western Cape, 70 in the Eastern Cape, 52 in the Free State, 74 in Mpumalanga, 51 in Limpopo and seven in the Northern Cape.
Msibi pointed out that statistics for the same period last year indicated a total of 884 accidents which is 413 more than this year.
Paramedics overwhelmed
Accident statistics are a lot higher than the death toll, though. Netcare 911 reported that over the past long weekend, their call centre dealt with 214 motor vehicle collisions and 36 pedestrian collisions, which makes a total of 250 collision scenes in Gauteng alone.
"The Netcare 911 statistics for the same period for the country are 545 motor vehicle collisions and 91 pedestrian collisions making a national total of 636 incidents countrywide," said spokesman Nick Dollman.
Here are pictures of some of the worst accidents which have taken place on the country's roads since the beginning of December:
Pic 1: A man was killed in this accident which occurred under the William Nicol Drive bridge on the N1 highway in Johannesburg. ER24 paramedics claimed the exact cause of this accident is not known and the man was declared dead on the scene.
Pics 2 and 3: This car was involved in a collision on the N1 highway between Malibongwe and William Nicol Drives in Joburg. Netcare 911 paramedics believe the accident occurred when a Golf lost control and crossed over the middle island and collided with another car that was travelling in the opposite direction. The driver of the Golf was in a critical condition and he sustained head, abdominal and pelvic injuries as well as serious burns to the right side of his body, as the car caught fire after impact. Three other people were seriously injured in the accident and taken to hospital.
Pic 4: Netcare 911 reported this accident in which a man died. "It appears that the car left the highway and collided with the wrong side of the barrier before rolling down an embankment and coming to a standstill in a storm-water drain. The driver was ejected with significant force and he was thrown over two fences - the rear electric fence was over two meteres high." The man was found in the garden area of a townhouse complex next to the N1 highway and was declared dead at the scene.
Pic 5: One man was killed and two passengers were seriously injured when the taxi they were travelling in crashed into a tree in the middle island of the road in Roosevelt Park, Joburg, last week. Netcare 911 paramedics claimed that when they arrived on the scene, the sliding door of the minibus was still wrapped around the tree trunk.
How not to be involved in an accident
Mark Stokoe, spokesman for Netcare 911 urged drivers to be extra vigilant over the festive season.
He also put out an urgent plea for drivers not to slow down at accident scenes to look at what's happening, as this leads to many secondary accidents and puts both drivers and rescue workers at risk.
ER24 issued a similar warning and offered the following tips on safe travel during the festive season:
- Wear your seatbelt, and make sure everyone else in the car does.
- Do not speed or overtake recklessly - it’s better to get there slowly than not at all.
- Switch your headlights on during the day, as this will increase your visibility remarkably.
Sources: Netcare 911, ER24, Sapa
(Amy Henderson, Health24.com, December 2007)
Read more:
Early start to road carnage
Put road safety first
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