Pretoria - Road deaths dropped by 75 percent during the festive season on the N3 highway between Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
According to N3 Toll Concession (N3TC), from 12 December 2011 to 10 January 2012, eight people died on the 415km N3 toll route between Heidelberg in Gauteng and Cedara in KwaZulu-Natal.
During the same period in 2010/11, 32 people died on this stretch of road.
National preliminary figures for the 2011/12 festive season road death toll also reflect a decrease in road fatalities compared to the 2010/11 festive season.
Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has commended emergency services for going all out during the December festive season to ensure safer roads.
"Whatever success was achieved during the December holiday period was due to the dedication of our traffic officers, police officers and other members of our emergency services. They were on duty, ensuring our safety on the roads.
"They sacrificed valuable time with their families and loved ones, and for this they must be commended.
"The reduction in road deaths is not just desirable; it is an urgent non-negotiable, and has become our daily mission, which has called upon world leaders to work together and to share solutions to this challenge," he said.
Meanwhile, more than 13 000 motorists were arrested across the country last December, says the Department of Transport.
Ndebele further appealed to the country's road users to make 2012 the beginning of the end of bad driving.
"More than 40 people die on South African roads every day, and we need a paradigm shift in our approach to road safety. Road safety is everybody's responsibility.
"As government, we want to make it very clear that we remain steadfast in our resolve to bring down the fatality rate on our roads. We are determined to ensure that all road-users, especially, the most vulnerable, are safe when travelling on our roads."
From 1 December 2011 to 8 January 2012, 13 439 drivers were arrested, including 2 492 for drunken driving, 162 for reckless and/or negligent driving, 314 for excessive speed and 9 222 for outstanding warrants of arrest.
Department spokesperson Logan Maistry said a further 635 were arrested for not being in possession of valid public transport permits, 50 for false documentation, 117 for not being in possession of a valid driving licence and 398 for various other offences.
He said during the same period, more than 1.5 million vehicles and drivers were checked, 526 735 fines issued for various traffic offences and 6 084 un-roadworthy vehicles discontinued from use.
