Pretoria – The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has urged motorists to exercise extreme caution and to obey the rules of the road following the deaths of 15 people in car crashes at the weekend.
The 15 people were killed in three major crashes in KwaZulu-Natal and in the Eastern Cape.
The number of fatalities include four members of the South African Police Service, who died when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a minibus taxi in Harding on Friday. Five people died in the incident.
A multiple car collision on the N2 in Margate, south of KwaZulu-Natal, claimed the lives of two people on Friday. The collision involved one light delivery vehicle, two sedans and two taxis. The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Eight people died when a taxi collided with a truck on the N9 between Cradock and Graaff-Reinett in the Eastern Cape on Saturday night.
It is alleged that the taxi hit a cow before the driver lost control of the vehicle and it went straight into an oncoming traffic. It collided head-on with a truck. The drivers of both vehicles died in the crash.
Investigations into the exact causes of the crashes are underway.
“Those travelling long distances have to have enough sleep before embarking on their trips and to take enough breaks along the way to avoid fatigue.
“All passengers should wear seatbelts and (young) children should be in child restraints. Motorists should always be on the lookout for pedestrians and stray animals,” the RTMC said in a statement. – SAnews.gov.za
