Remember my December 29 Post: Excellent Police Work Halves Holiday Death Toll - WHAT HOGWASH!

http://www.nickvanderleek.com/2008/12/excellent-police-work-halves-holiday.html - The stats have recently been released, showing that total traffic margins decreased by 33.4% over the December period, making the so-called 31% decrease in fatalities no 'achievement' at all. In fact, we could infer that given the sharp decline in traffic, and a slightly lower decline in fatalities, that road deaths actually increased 2%.

The point is, the Media broadcast this on radio and newspapers, and no one took a moment to consider the data with any insight or with any critical analysis. We need to be a bit sharper in the current milieu of chaos and contraction. And the traffic police need a smack on the wrist. They (with a few exceptions) were just as useless as always - fining for seatbelts instead of patrolling the highways.

clipped from www.citizen.co.za The number of fatalities, motor vehicle accidents and cars on the road decreased significantly during the December holidays, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe told us on Thursday. Radebe was quoted by Sapa as saying that “in short, we have achieved a reduction of 31 percent in fatalities, a reduction of 33 percent in the number of fatal crashes as well as a reduction of 32 percent in the number of vehicles involved.” Interestingly, given that we were told by Sanral last week that traffic volumes had decreased by 33.4 percent – which would erase the significance of DOT’s “achievement.” Radebe was at pains to contend that there was only a minor decrease in traffic volumes on major routes from Gauteng over the period.