Cape Town 4 July 2003 Sapa
Since 1999 the largest number of fatal bus accidents have occurred in Gauteng, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said in a written reply to a question tabled in the National Assembly.
In 1999 there were 47 fatal bus crashes in Gauteng, in 2000 there were 39, in 2001 35, in 2002 22 and so far in 2003 there have been 17.
A total of 644 people were killed in bus accidents throughout South Africa from 1999 until presently.
The highest number of deaths in any one province was in the Eastern Cape in 2000 when 141 people were killed.
There were two major accidents involving buses in the Eastern Cape in 2000.
On January 23, 27 people were killed in an accident at Braamnek near Queenstown.
On December 24, 20 people were killed when the driver of a luxury bus travelling from Cape Town to Butterworth lost control on the notorious Kei Cuttings near East London.
Radebe said 57.1 percent of all bus accidents in South Africa have been attributed to driver and human error.
He said the major causes of accidents were reckless driving, especially over-taking in the face of oncoming traffic.
"There was general reckless, inconsiderate and negligent driving behaviour," he said.
A lot of accidents were also caused by drivers swerving into oncoming traffic in an emergency. Driving with defective vehicles was also a major problem.
Poor vehicle maintenance caused only 28.6 percent of the accidents, while the condition of the road and the environment caused 14.3 percent of all accidents.
An investigation into the May Day bus accident in Bethlehem in the Free State, where 51 people were killed, showed all three factors had played a role.
The driver had followed the wrong route, probably due to the poor sign-posting in the area, and the bus had bad brakes and inadequate emergency exits.
The accident happened when their bus plunged into the Saulspoort dam outside Bethlehem while en route from Kimberley to a Workers' Day rally at Charles Mopeli stadium, Phuthaditjaba.
The Transport Ministry only investigates bus crashes where more than five people have been killed.
"There are in all about 120 such accidents per year, which involve vehicles of all types."
An investigation into such an accident could cost anything between R50,000 and R100,000 per accident.
"With a budget of R1-million only about 10 or 15 investigations can be conducted per year," he said.
He said the department was in the process of reviewing its medical testing policy for professional drivers.
"When implemented the policy will include improved medical testing and evaluation procedures."
It would also investigate the accreditation and training of the doctors performing medical tests for professional drivers.
There were plans to develop improved incident management training for police and emergency workers.
This would improve emergency response time.
The SA Bureau of Standards, at the request of the ministry, was currently investigating various safety issues relating to emergency exits in buses and taxis.