City maps out its festive season road safety focus
13 December 2020
The Traffic Service launches ‘Operation Exodus’ tomorrow, Monday, 14 December 2020. It will run until Christmas Eve.
The City of Cape Town’s enforcement agencies are ramping up road safety efforts as the peak festive season approaches.
Officers across the three enforcement agencies – Metro Police, Traffic Service and Law Enforcement – will be involved in ensuring both vehicle and driver fitness as holiday traffic volumes spike.
The Traffic Service launches ‘Operation Exodus’ tomorrow, Monday, 14 December 2020. It will run until Christmas Eve.
The focus is on ensuring that long distance transport vehicles are fit for purpose, and that those behind the wheel have the necessary documentation to transport passengers.
Officers will also check on passenger loads, particularly the national disaster management regulation that long distance loads do not exceed 70% of the carrying capacity, and that all occupants are wearing masks, which is compulsory.
Within the city, officers will concentrate on vehicle checkpoints and roadblocks at various locations.
Drunk driving, speeding, reckless and negligent driving, unlicensed drivers and unroadworthy vehicles are among the focus areas.
‘Our Traffic Service has recorded very high numbers of drunk driving and reckless and negligent driving relating to illegal street racing in recent months. We have to emphasise the need for cool heads and accountability this festive season, particularly in light of the second wave of COVID-19 infections. Cape Town needs hospital beds to deal with the sharp increase in COVID infections. We can ill afford a spike in patients linked to irresponsible behaviour on our roads, and alcohol consumption,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
On the major highways and arterial routes, the City’s Metro Police Department will continue its patrols to assist motorists in need.
The Department has an established presence on the N2 and R300 in particular, to deter attacks on motorists and to assist those who experience mechanical issues or fall victim to attack while driving.
Between July 2019 and June 2020, the department assisted 2 450 motorists stranded on the highways.
Between July and September 2020, a total of 552 motorists were assisted, and in October, there were 162 incidents.
Mechanical issues and motorists running out of fuel accounted for nearly 60% of the incidents, as highlighted in the graph below:
‘This should be your first call in the event that something goes wrong, so that our call takers can redirect a City or SAPS resource to your location as soon as possible. Unfortunately, a stranded motorist is vulnerable to opportunistic criminals. We also find that too many motorists stop along the side of the highways to drop passengers, or take calls. We remind the public that this is not only illegal, but also extremely dangerous,’ added Alderman Smith.
The City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre is available on a 24-hour basis to relay emergency calls, on 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or 107 from a landline.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office