JOHANNESBURG – A total of 699 motorists have been detained for various traffic offenses since Friday as South Africa’s law enforcement departments crack the whip on those flouting road regulations, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said on Sunday.
“A total of 75,192 vehicles have been stopped and checked at various checkpoints since the start of the holiday period and 699 motorists have been arrested for offenses including drunken driving, excessive speeding, producing false driving documentation, reckless driving and overloading,” the RTMC said. Law enforcement departments have made deployments on major highways and roads during this year’s Easter holiday, which started Friday and will end Monday. Among those arrested was a motorist driving at a speed of 198 km an hour in Gauteng Province where the speed limit is 120 km per hour, as well as a man with an alcohol reading of 1.03 mg per 1,000 ml of breath in Western Cape Province, where the legal breath alcohol limit is less than 0.24 mg in 1,000 ml of breath, the RTMC said.
The traffic volumes on national roads are expected to reach a peak Monday as people return from the holiday, the RTMC said, urging motorists to follow the road regulations. A total of 162 people died in traffic accidents in South Africa during the Easter holiday last year.
– Xinhua News