Bakwena Toll Road Concessionaire are proud to report that fatalities on their N1N4 route have decreased significantly over the first few months of the year in comparison to 2014. This year the toll concessionaire reported eight incidences for the period January to May – sixteen less fatalities compared to the same period last year.
“We attribute our success to the responsible driving behavior of motorists as well as our commitment to ongoing improvements, road safety initiatives and partnerships that were put in place to ensure maximum safety,” states Liam Clarke, commercial manager, at Bakwena.
The statistics for both periods are as follows*:
Jan – May 2014 Jan – May 2015
N1 6 4
N4 18 4
The most notable change was over the 2015 Easter period, where Bakwena experienced zero fatalities, an improvement from last year’s statistics of four deaths, and an exception to the unfortunate increase in the national statistics released by Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, of 287 deaths in 208 accidents over the same weekend.
Further, the Tshwane Metro Police and other traffic authorities have worked closely with Bakwena and PtOps, a company contracted by Bakwena to operate toll gates and provide route patrols on the N1N4. A major concern is the presence of pedestrians on the road, accesses to the highway have been closed off and a 2,1 kilometre pedestrian fence has been erected on the N1 north of the Zambezi Plaza. The continued and rigorous enforcement of traffic laws on the highway has resulted in improved safety on the N1N4 route. This coupled with the erection of the blue kilometre board markers which are placed at 200 meter spacing on the N1N4 to assist motorists who need road side assistance and report incidents on the highway.
“We are encouraged by the improvement of accurate and timeous reporting of incidents and accidents with the implementation of the new national RIMS framework from government, as administered by SANRAL.
“Bakwena would like to thank all our partners who are equally dedicated to improving road safety and eradicating road incidents. Together with motorists, we will continue to work tirelessly until we fulfill the vision of zero fatalities on our roads,” concludes Clarke.
For more on Bakwena, visit www.bakwena.co.za
*Statistics made publicly available to date.
