Poor levels of road safety for South Africa’s motorcycle riders

South Africa suffered poor safety levels for motorcyclists during 2018, with a 9% increase in fatalities compared to 2017. During 2018 there were 183 fatalities amongst motorcycle drivers and passengers in South Africa, compared to 166 in 2017. Meanwhile there were 508 powered two wheeler riders seriously injured in 2018, compared with 521 the previous year. Of those killed or seriously injured in crashes, 651 were male and 58 were female in 2018, compared with 631 males and 56 females killed or seriously i
January 7, 2019 Read time: 1 min

South Africa suffered poor safety levels for motorcyclists during 2018, with a 9% increase in fatalities compared to 2017. During 2018 there were 183 fatalities amongst motorcycle drivers and passengers in South Africa, compared to 166 in 2017. Meanwhile there were 508 powered two wheeler riders seriously injured in 2018, compared with 521 the previous year. Of those killed or seriously injured in crashes, 651 were male and 58 were female in 2018, compared with 631 males and 56 females killed or seriously injured during 2017. Of those killed or seriously injured, 25% were aged 30-39. There were around 14 serious motorcycle crashes involving a fatality or a serious injury/week on average during 2018, with March featuring the highest rate at 87, although September had the highest fatality rate with 26 deaths. Although motorcycles account for just 2.1% of the registered vehicles in South Africa, they feature a disproportionately high level of serious crashes.

Related Content

  • Research shows young male drivers pose safety risk
    December 18, 2013
    Research from the UK reveals an alarming picture of road safety amongst young male drivers. This data is likely to be replicated in other European drivers as well as further afield. According to the UK’s Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), some 30,850 male drivers aged 17-20 have up to six points on their driving licences. However, only 9,758 female drivers aged 17-20 have up to six points on their licences. Drivers are awarded points for motoring offences in the UK, with more serious offences resulting
    Read More
  • Road safety improving
    September 15, 2017
    A slight improvement in road safety has been seen in Kenya for the January to September 2017 period compared with the figures for the same months during 2016. There were 1,919 reported road deaths during January to September 2017 compared with 2,078 reported fatalities in January to September 2016. The number of drivers killed in crashes during January to September 2017 dropped to 212 while the number of pedestrians killed in road crashes during this period dropped to 714.
    Read More
  • Brazil’s dangerous roads see an increase in fatalities
    February 13, 2020
    Brazil’s poor road safety is under the spotlight, with an increase in fatal crashes.
    Read More
  • Road safety gain for Oman
    March 11, 2016
    A slight improvement in road safety has been identified in Oman by the police, following analysis of data. The Royal Oman Police's (ROP) statistics revealed that 675 people were killed in 6,279 road crashes in 2015. This was a notable reduction from the 816 deaths in 6,717 road crashes in 2014. The Muscat governorate had the highest number of road crashes in 2015 at 2,107 and 92 were killed while 1,186 were injured. The North Batinah governorate recorded the highest number of deaths and injured at 115 and 2
    Read More

Highlighted Content