Road safety boost on eve of Easter weekend

WITH the Easter weekend just around the corner, the Transport Department showed its commitment to minimising road deaths in the Eastern Cape. Yesterday's official launch of its Easter campaign saw the opening of a new traffic office in Aberdeen, as well as 62 new vehicles being deployed across the province. Department spokesman Ncedo Kumbaca said the new office was opened in Aberdeen because the N9 running from there to Graaff-Reinet had been identified as one of the most dangerous roads in the country. "The new office means more officers and vehicles to help with road safety in the area." Kumbaca said officers would for the first time be put on the N9 permanently during the Easter weekend, in the form of regular roadblocks and continuous patrols. Some of the 62 new vehicles were allocated to Aberdeen, including new ambulances to improve accident response times. Previously the closest traffic office to Aberdeen was Graaff-Reinet. The new office meant that resources from Graaff-Reinet would not be as thinly spread as in the past. Kumbaca said the ultimate goal was to minimise accidents on Eastern Cape roads and to bring fatality figures down from last Easter weekend, when 32 serious accidents occurred. Eight people died over the holiday period, 19 were seriously injured and a further 26 slightly injured. - Riaan Marais