Cape Town – The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has launched the 2023 Easter Arrive Alive campaign #Zithibe to fight negligent and drunk driving, as motorist are expected to flock to the roads for the Easter holidays.
#Zithibe, means resist the temptation.
This comes after RTMC and the Department of Transport hosted the first cohort of traffic officers who recently graduated. They are expected to resume their duties on May 2, 2023.
Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said they were making a clarion call to all road users to restrain themselves and resist the temptation to engage in reckless behaviour on the road.
She said any reckless behaviour would be met with the full might of the law.
“This is equally a call for motorists to resist the temptation to drive at excessive speed, nor drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and to resist the temptation to talk on cell phones or using other electronic devices while driving,” she said.
Chikunga also said it was a call for pedestrians to resist the temptation to cross the road when it’s not safe to do so and avoid hitch hiking on busy routes during peak travel periods.
“This is also a call to the traffic officers to resist the temptation to take bribes and allow offenders and those driving of unroadworthy vehicles to go unpunished.
“The arm of the law is long and will reach everyone who think they can perpetuate lawlessness with impunity,” Chikunga said.
Chikunga highlighted current road fatality statistics which indicate that the number of fatal crashes decreased by 30% in the Easter of 2022, year-on-year, compared to the previous year from 222 to 156 fatal crashes. The number of fatalities decreased by 32% from 270 in 2021 to 184 in 2022.
“The deployment of technology such as numberplate recognition, the mobile vehicle testing stations and hand-held devices such as the e-force, has enabled traffic officers to obtain real time information about motor vehicles and are assisting to improve the enforcement of the law,” Chikunga added.
Meanwhile, Gauteng MEC of Roads and Transport Kedibone Diale Tlabela said statistics have shown that during Easter and the festive season, an unacceptable amount of pedestrians died while trying to cross roads.
Diale Tlabela said this when she was launching the provincial Easter road safety campaign on the R80 Mabopane Highway in Soshanguve.
She said the operation went beyond just motorist safety and focused on spreading a message to pedestrians as well as dealing with criminal behaviour by searching vehicles and persons.
IOL