FIFTEEN LIVES CLAIMED BY ROAD ACCIDENT IN THREE DAYS

FIFTEEN LIVES CLAIMED BY ROAD ACCIDENT IN THREE DAYS

Mec Vusi Shomgwe worried about the loss of fifteen lives in the Nkangala region in three days over the weekend.

Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Vusi Shongwe called on drivers to be more cautious when it is raining or misty on the roads.

This comes after the Nkangala Region in the province recorded fifteen fatalities on crashes in three days [between 30 January and 01 February 2015] which were mostly caused by the rainy weather condition experienced over the weekend

The crashes include among others a crash that occurred on Friday [30 January 2014] at 18h00 when a combi which was travelling from Johannesburg to Witbank on the N12 Road overturned after a tyre burst and killed two passengers. Seven passengers sustained severe injuries.

In the early morning of Saturday 31 January 2015 at about 01h30 two occupants of a sedan were killed after the vehicle that they were pushing off the road collided with an oncoming vehicle on the R573 Road (Moloto Road).

On the same day, in Delmas towards Emalahleni, a Toyota Tazz sedan overturned on N12 Road after a tyre burst at about 20h00. The driver of the vehicle and a passenger died on the spot while two other passengers sustained serious injuries. They were taken to Delmas Hospital.

In Emalahleni towards Kriel on the R544 Road another crash occurred when a sedan hit a guardrail at about 20h50. Two passengers died on the spot and one passenger was seriously injured and taken to Witbank Hospital.

On Sunday [01 February 2015], a crash occurred on R555 in Middelburg at about 17h00 when a Nissan LDV lost control and collided with a trailer that disconnected from an oncoming sedan and also hit another LDV that lost control due to the impact. Two passengers including a child died on the scene.

Another accident occurred on the same night on the R573 Road in Kwamhlanga at about 20h30 after an LDV which was travelling towards Kwamhlanga collided with another LDV from the opposite direction. One person was killed instantly on the spot while one was seriously injured and rushed to Kwamhlanga Hospital.

“The statistics show that we must pay more attention on these most problematic routes as they continue to register a lot of crashes in our province.

“Each and every road user must become a road safety ambassador to ensure safe driving and report bad driving to law enforcement authorities. Road Safety is everybody’s business, let us work together to fight road carnage,” said Shongwe.