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More than 1,000 die on S. African roads during festive season

Xinhua, January 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

More than a thousand people have died on South African roads since Dec. 1, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said on Sunday.

The minister said authorities were still collecting full information nationwide and would release the specific figure in due time.

The figures would detail the ages of those who died on the roads since the beginning of the festive holidays, Peters told reporters in Polokwane, Limpopo Province.

"I cannot give you the full figure right now but it's more than a thousand of people who perished on our roads we are going to be collating the full information," she said.

Authorities have launched a drive-safely campaign before and during the festive season in the hope of bringing down the high number of road fatalities -- at least lower than that of last year.

During the 2014/2015 festive season, 1,118 fatal road accidents were recorded between Dec. 1 and Jan. 5, causing 1,368 fatalities.

Peters said this year's festive season was marked by the high number of young people who were victims of the road carnage, particularly those who are 19 years of age, which "is worrying".

Also on Sunday, President Jacob Zuma said the road carnage indicated that more still needs to be done to promote road safety and to get people to respect the rules of the road.

"Traffic authorities will not win this battle alone. All road users must cooperate to make our roads safer,"Zuma said.

Traffic authorities blamed speeding, fatigue and driving under the influence of alchohol for most of the accidents.

Road carnage is a daily phenomenon, particularly during holidays in South Africa, which is among the countries that have the highest road facilities.

The country has more than 700,000 crashes a year on the average, with three children dying every day in road accidents.

The festive holidays usually have the highest rate of road deaths, according to the Road Traffic Management Corporation.

Worldwide, the number of people killed in road traffic crashes each year is estimated at almost 1.2 million, while the number injured could be as high as 50 million. Enditem