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When looking at road safety over the recent festive season, what did traffic officials contend with? The Newcastillian – Online News approached Chief Traffic Officer, Ashok Anandhaw to establish how many offenders local traffic officials brought to book and the general attitude shown by motorists during the same time. Moreover, Chief Anandhaw elaborates on information surrounding travel.
Reflecting on the effect of the national lockdown on traffic and related incidents, Chief Traffic Officer Anandhaw says, “Whereas there was a noticeable decrease in the volumes of traffic, as compared to the same period last year, the number of incidents and crashes remained similar.”
In addition, he emphasises the severity of the crashes yielded the same number of fatalities in our area as the previous year. According to Anandhaw, a total of 9 people died on our roads.
Looking at figures, Chief Traffic Officer Anandhaw expands on just how active the traffic officials were during the holiday season:
Crashes:
- Newcastle – 170 crashes and 6 fatalities.
- Madadeni – 53 crashes and no fatalities.
- Osizweni – 70 crashes and 1 fatality.
- Normandien – 1 crash and 0 fatalities.
- Charlestown – 18 crashes and 2 fatalities
- Ingogo – 7 crashes and 0 fatalities.
Roadside operations and traffic violations:
- Vehicles stopped – 2 928
- Total number of written charges – 719
- Total manual speed charges – 25
- Vehicles suspended – 3
- Vehicles impounded – 1
- Speed Arrests – 0
- Driving without a licence – 33
- Seatbelt infringements – 102
- Unlicensed vehicles – 207
- Inconsiderate driving – 1
- Drunken Driving arrests – 0
- Warrants executed – 0
He further highlights the overall frequency of crashes reduced throughout the KZN Province. “The lockdown impacted tremendously on holidaymakers, both due to the economic recession and the phobia of contracting the virus. Volumes of traffic peaked immediately after the President’s address on 28 December 2020 regarding the amended lockdown level 3 phase. People became anxious; they adjusted their travel and holiday plans to return to their residence prematurely. The province recorded peak traffic through toll booths at 1831 vehicles per hour on 2 January 2021.”
Moreover, he points out that people’s behaviour and the containment of the virus will determine the lockdown levels, which will affect traffic volumes. According to the chief, it is not practical to pre-empt traffic patterns for this quarter at the current rate of spread. “We anticipate another peak in travels when migrant workers and students return to their places of work and study, respectively.
Looking at the general attitude of motorists, Chief Traffic Officer Anandhaw concludes, “We beg road users, especially in public transport modes, to adhere to the lockdown regulations and its safety measures. Road safety is everybody’s responsibility.”
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