7 January 2002
The Minister of Transport, Dullah Omar encouraged motorists to travel during the day as opposed to at night when returning back from holiday this week. He said the chances of accidents are higher at night when there are high volumes of traffic. He also said the bad weather conditions could play a negative role since rain has been falling in most part of the country recently.
He urged motorists to travel at least an hour or two earlier than normal because of the expected high volumes of traffic at tollgates and roadblocks. “We are setting-up roadblocks throughout the country to monitor holiday-makers as they travel back home. There will be delays at these roadblocks and tollgates. Leave early to arrive early,” Omar urged.
Omar called on all road-users to throw their weight behind the ARRIVE ALIVE campaign, which has the main objective of educating and communicating road safety messages to the public.
In releasing the much-awaited audited statistics for both December 2001 and January 2002, Omar said, "it was important to remember that ARRIVE ALIVE isn't a numbers game, but a campaign about stopping the carnage on our roads and that resultant human tragedy that has touched the lives of most South Africans”.
Over this week, traffic volumes are expected to build up from Wednesday as thousands of holidaymakers are expected to return home over the weekend. ARRIVE ALIVE expects traffic flows to peek on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“Traffic laws will be enforced along major holiday routes so be alert and drive safely, Omar concluded."
NB. Updated statistics are available on request @ Arrive Alive Info Centre - 0800 00 5619 or (012) 309 3846.