On December 31 there were 14 accidents, with no fatalities. By comparison, there were 19 accidents with 3 fatalities on the same day in 2019.

On New Year's Day there were 11 accidents with no fatalities whilst the same time a year ago there were 9 accidents and no fatalities.

"It was a quiet and peaceful New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. We are usually up and about on the provinces’ five national key roads that connect the surrounding six provinces and the kingdom of Lesotho. As a province at the centre of the country we are usually at our busiest during these days and often experience fatal accidents, but this time around, it has been different" said Tsiu. 

Free State Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has been on alert to respond to any trauma cases since the launch of the joint operations campaign between the SAPS, Provincial Traffic, Private EMS, Fire Services, Disaster Management  Operations and Road Traffic Management Corporation on December 11 at the Bloemfontein Shell Ultra City Pitstop on the N1.

During this campaign launch, which also commemorated 20 years of the Road Health and Safety Campaign, Tsiu appealed to road users to be extra alert and contribute to road safety.

While the Free State has been relatively quiet in terms of trauma cases, the province is however seeing an increase in Covid-19 infections.

Statement supplied.