North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Wessels Morweng, has sent a message of condolences to the families of four people who lost their lives following a head-on collision on the N18 outside Mahikeng yesterday.
According to the department, the accident happened about three kilometres northwards of the Kalgold mine, and all the deceased were from one vehicle that was traveling towards Mahikeng.
Five occupants from the other vehicle, which was travelling towards Setlagole, survived with serious injuries and were transported to the Mahikeng Provincial hospital.
“Our heart goes out to the families of the deceased, and we wish those who are hospitalised speedy recovery. We are appealing to the motorists to be circumspect when driving. Research indicates that the country is losing over 12 000 lives annually to road accidents. We have to ask ourselves searching questions on how we behave behind the steering wheel. As much as accidents are sudden, on occasions investigation reveals some were avoidable and many are human errors,” said Morweng.
The MEC cited impatience, recklessness, speeding and the use of mobile phones while driving, as some of the factors that lead to accidents.
“We are appealing to those who will be traveling this weekend as schools are reopening next week, to drive to the conditions of the road rather than to the speed limit. We expect all provincial arterial routes including N4, N12, N14 and N18 to have more than normal traffic as many people are coming back from the school break”, explained Morweng.
