RTMC calls for harsh punishment for youngster after fatal crash

The Road Traffic Management Corporation road is calling on the prosecution authorities to charge the young man; who crashed a luxury German sedan in Vereening; with murder killing two people and leaving one with serious injuries.

This follows the emergence of video evidence on social media showing the occupants of the vehicle urging the driver to speed shortly before the crash. None of the passengers shown in the footage was wearing safety belts.

It is alleged the vehicle, a BMW M4 was involved in a road race with another vehicle before the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The driver was arrested at the scene and appeared in court on Monday on charges relating to driving under the influence and culpable homicide.

This crash demonstrates vividly how young people fail to take responsibility for their own safety and other motorists once they get behind their high-speed vehicles. Every weekend parents bury their loved ones who die because of the deliberate, unacceptable and irresponsible conduct of drivers who disregard the rules of the road. This has got to stop, said RTMC CEO Makhosini Msibi.

We note that blood samples have been taken from the accused for analysis and we call on the National Prosecution Authority to upgrade the charges from culpable homicide to murder should it be established that the driver of the vehicle was under the influence of alcohol or other substance at the time the accident occurred, he said.

The NPA took a similar decision in April this year in a case involving Lazarus Malatjie Malatjie who was initially charged with culpable murder after a car he was driving hit five youngsters killing four and injuring one. The charge sheet was amended to murder and attempted murder after blood tests came back positive.

Source: Government of South Africa