It was carnage on the region’s roads over the past weekend, with five people being killed in 10 different vehicle accidents.

In almost all cases, it would seem that drivers' and pedestrians' negligence was the root cause of the crashes.

The weekend got off to a bad start on Thursday (13th) when two people died in two separate accidents. According to the Makhado Fire Brigade, a man lost control over his vehicle along the Vivo road and crashed into a lamppost. The as-yet-unidentified man managed to contact the rescue services, but upon their arrival he had passed away. Another man passed away on the same day in an accident in the Mara region.

On Saturday, the drivers and passengers of three vehicles barely managed to escape death after the driver of a delivery truck apparently failed to stop at the crossing at Jeppe and Kort Street in Makhado (Louis Trichardt). The delivery truck was travelling in an east-west direction. A vehicle travelling north-south collided with the truck.

The impact of the crash caused the truck to shoot into the air and land on the roof of a double cab bakkie that was travelling south-north in Kort Street. Bricks and loafs of bread, which the truck was carrying, were scattered all over the road. The truck, balanced on the double-cab bakkie, caused lots of spectator value.

On Sunday, the N1 south was the scene of yet another crash involving a truck. According to information supplied by the police, the truck driver seemed to have lost control and the vehicle overturned, killing the driver and his passenger.

A female pedestrian was also killed, according to the police, after an out-of-control vehicle had knocked her over. The accident occurred along Anderson Street in the early morning hours of Sunday. The vehicle, after knocking down the woman, burst through a fence, leaving the vehicle a wreck.

All the accidents are being investigated by the police, with cases of culpable homicide being opened with regard to the fatal accidents.

Following the accidents, local police spokesperson Capt Maano Sadike urged motorists to drive cautiously.