Free State’s most dangerous R30 Road: Poor conditions, reckless driving leading factors behind road deaths!

Free State’s deadly R30 road continues to claim more lives, with more than 26 people having died on a provincial route since 2011 till date.

Poor road conditions and reckless driving are some of the major leading factors behind fatal crashes.

The state of the R30 road between Allanridge and Bothaville, has been described as perilous and is prone to fatal crashes, which has led to the numerous deaths, while leaving several injured.

Recently, a horrific accident took occurrence, when three vehicles piled up into each other leaving two occupants drowned.

According to Lejweleputswa police spokesperson Stephen Thakeng, it is alleged that the deceased’s car plough in a river located along the road after collision.

Victims of another cars cling to life.

Thakeng said the bodies of the deceased were that of a man and a woman, who are still yet to be identified.  

The department of roads and transport in the province has since put the blame on recent heavy rains and floods which resulted in turning the road into a gravel route.

R30 road has been plagued with flashy floods , where deteriorated stretch of the road had undergone rehabilitation following months of misery.

Although the road was re-opened last month, it is still a great concern that the provincial government has a mountain to climb to curb consistence accidents occurring in this haunted road.

Breakdown of accidents occurred in R30 road since 2011 with fatalities:

• 16 Jan 2011- Man killed in R30 road
• 18 Sep 2013- Two people died in a horrific crash on the same road.
• 29 April 2016- One person died after his car was ‘write-off’ following a crash.
• 29 May 2016 – Three people died.
• 1 June 2016- Another three people lost their lives – a month after the a deadly accident.
• 15 July 2016- One person died following a car crash.
• 9 Jan 2017- Two people lost their lives when their car lost control and bumped into another car that was moving in a different direction.
• 23 Dec 2020- Five people perished.
• 28 Mar 2021- Head-on-collision of two cars left six dead.
• 9 Aug 2021- Two people lost their lives in a head-on-collision.
• 15 March 2022 – Two people drowned when their vehicle plunged into the water following an accident.

For this year alone, more than eight accidents were reported on this road since from January, even though gravel part of the road has been reinforced, it still remains dangerous, with several accidents reported every month.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) confirmed to Kasi Voice News that, deteriorating road conditions and reckless driving, where motorists are driving with high speed are leading factors behind multiple accidents in this accident prone road.

The RTMC and the police has sternly warned motorists to be cautions and to reduce their speed when they come closer to R30 road between Allanridge and Bothaville, as this is earmarked as an accident zone.