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Wednesday / 12 February 2025
HomeNewsEaster weekend road stats are in – Almost 1 million fines issued

Easter weekend road stats are in – Almost 1 million fines issued

Throughout the past Easter weekend, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) performed more than 75,000 stops for vehicles travelling along the N1, N3, and N4 and subsequently issued 916,927 fines for various infringements including driving without a licence, drunk driving, driving while overloaded with goods or passengers, and providing false documents.

Additionally, in excess of 1,000 motorists were arrested and 900 vehicles impounded across the country’s nine provinces, 274 of which were declared unroadworthy.

A dangerous time to be on the road

Vehicle-related offences tend to spike over holiday periods, with the week before and after the four-day Easter weekend often being a dangerous time for motorists.

This is because there is a high influx of families making use of the school holiday and taking additional work leave to go away on longer trips, which leads to a lot of cars on popular routes like the N3 between Joburg and Durban, which in turn leads to an increase in accidents and road fatalities.

RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane said that increased traffic volumes were recorded on Thursday and Friday, with routes like the N1 North and N3 South seeing an average of 2,000 vehicles passing through toll gates every hour.

“This surge in traffic poses significant road safety challenges, with authorities often warning motorists to exercise caution due to the high volumes of vehicles on the roads,” he said.

Gauteng Traffic Police spokesperson Sello Maremane confirmed that 20 people died over the weekend, with the majority of accidents being the result of reckless and negligent driving such as speeding, using a phone while driving, dangerous overtaking, and driving in the yellow lane.

Similarly, the City of Tshwane has reported 13 fatalities thus far, including an incident that killed four people in Pretoria’s CBD early on Sunday morning.

In total, 90 fatalities were reported across four provinces since the start of the Easter holiday in South Africa.

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