Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire (Bakwena) recorded six fatalities on the N4 route over the Easter holiday period, which saw peak hour traffic volumes reaching 5100 vehicles per hour at Doornpoort plaza on the N4 and 2800 vehicles per hour on the N1 south on Easter Monday. Thursday 29 th March saw 37 447 vehicles travel northbound through Carousel plaza and Easter Monday, 2nd April saw 38 387 vehicles travelling southbound through Carousel plaza.
Bakwena commercial manager, Liam Clarke says the toll concessionaire is saddened by the deaths on its roads. “We put several measures into place to avoid fatalities and implemented a Control of Speed by Illusion (COSBI) campaign to urge motorists to drive more carefully throughout the Easter period.”
The campaign involved the placement of life-size cardboard cut-outs of a police car, motorcycle and traffic policeman along the N1N4 as decoys. These cut-outs were complimented with additional thought provoking road signage to encourage safer driving behaviour over the Easter period. Bakwena also partnered with Imperial Road Safety and Hyundai SA for six additional patrol vehicles aimed at assisting with more visible policing and crash assistance, as well as to help road users who found themselves in difficult situations along the N1N4 route. These six vehicles travelled 23 061 kilometres over this period.
This is the second consecutive year Bakwena has run the COSBI campaign. The initiative is critical, especially given the announcement by the Automobile Association that 2016 witnessed the highest number of road deaths in 10 years.
According to disturbing research conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.25 million people die each year because of road traffic crashes worldwide. It also found that road crashes are the leading cause of death among people between the ages of 15 and 29 and are predicted to become the seventh leading cause of death by 2030.
Every year, Bakwena introduces measures to encourage drivers to observe the rules of the road, abide by speed limits, and take extra precautions, especially at designated traffic hotspots during holiday periods.
In an effort to encourage motorists to stop and take regular breaks during their journey, Bakwena also partnered with McDonalds Bela Bela to provide a complimentary cup of coffee to all truck and bus drivers going through Mantsole weighbridge on the N1 north as well as motorists passing through Carousel toll plaza this Easter period.
“Bakwena cares about the people who travel on its roads. One of our four Corporate Social Investment (CSI) pillars is to promote road safety on the roads we construct, manage, maintain and upgrade for the SANRAL. The COSBI, Imperial and McDonalds campaigns are just a few examples of the many initiatives by Bakwena to raise awareness around road safety and we are truly devastated that six people lost their lives on our roads this Easter,” concludes Clarke.