Beat the holiday rush: The best (and safest) times to hit the road this festive season

As we move into the festive season, many are preparing to travel across South Africa for vacation or to visit friends and family.

This means planning when to leave so you don’t find yourself stuck in long queues at the toll gates or behind dozens of trucks on the N3.

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He recommends avoiding driving at night from 6 pm to 11 pm and early mornings between 3 am and 7 am, as driver fatigue is at its highest.

“Remember you are not only driving your car, but you are also driving other people’s cars, and there are people around you,” he says. 

“We only have 22,000 traffic officers on the road, and when you look at the population on our roads, we are looking at more than 14 million vehicles.” 

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Msibi emphasises that regardless of the timing, safety remains of utmost importance; drive slowly, respect speed limits, and always wear seat belts.

“We try to only focus on hazardous roads where we know that there are quite a lot of accidents. We have identified those, and we will announce it.”

To listen to Msibi in conversation with 947’s Anele and The Club, click below: