Road safety remains one of the biggest challenges in Cape Town, with millions of offences recorded annually.

In addition, according to the City’s latest Traffic Crash report, there is one road death, on average, every 11 hours and 40 minutes.

Traffic Services has a dual responsibility - enforcing the rules of the road and effecting and managing road closures during active incidents like motor vehicle accidents, protest action, and events.

In the three months between July and September, the service:

• Received nearly 90 000 complaints from the public
• Recorded 1 009 607 offences
• Arrested 812 suspects (653 for drunk driving)
• Executed 29 710 warrants
• Impounded 1 574 public transport vehicles
• Impounded 127 vehicles in terms of the amended Traffic By-Law
• Impounded 1 192 cellphones

Traffic officers are supported by their Law Enforcement and Metro Police counterparts who,  during the same period:

• Issued 118 416 fines for traffic-related transgressions (138% increase)
• Arrested 686 drunk drivers (321% increase)
• Arrested 54 motorists for reckless and negligent driving (50% increase)

‘These statistics are absolutely staggering, and a timely reminder of what our staff have to contend with daily. Lawlessness and a lack of accountability lie at the heart of the challenge and while I appreciate the continued calls for more enforcement, the numbers show that staff are acting. We do not have the luxury of limitless resources, and even so, more staff isn’t necessarily a silver bullet. We need to change behaviour and attitudes. Many people behave like the law does not apply to them but are quick to scapegoat public transport operators as the bigger problem. We cannot treat the law on a sliding scale – rules are rules for a reason and if you’re not abiding by them, then you are part of the problem.

‘I also want to commend our staff for the extraordinary effort they’ve put in over recent months. An even bigger task awaits as we head into the year-end festivities and increased traffic volumes. Let’s keep the enforcement momentum going and reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on our roads. To road users, let these statistics be a reminder to stay in your lane, or risk landing on the wrong side of the law,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.