Skip to main content

South Africa developing road safety focus

Data shows that South Africa needs to boost its road safety and cut the rate of deaths and injuries on its network. The country has recorded some 16,000 fatalities from road crashes/year. There were 1,100 fatalities on the country’s roads during December 2014 on its own. The authorities are now looking to improvements in road safety made in Europe, with a view to implementing measures that will cut the death toll on South Africa’s roads. With enforcement of laws on speeding and driving under the influence h
February 3, 2015 Read time: 1 min
Data shows that South Africa needs to boost its road safety and cut the rate of deaths and injuries on its network. The country has recorded some 16,000 fatalities from road crashes/year. There were 1,100 fatalities on the country’s roads during December 2014 on its own. The authorities are now looking to improvements in road safety made in Europe, with a view to implementing measures that will cut the death toll on South Africa’s roads. With enforcement of laws on speeding and driving under the influence having been shown to have particular benefit to cutting the casualty rate, these seem likely to be priorities. The use of seat belts and proper vehicle inspections at regular intervals are also likely to be included in the framework for boosting road safety.

Related Content

  • Better road safety reduces Europe’s casualty figures
    April 1, 2014
    Improving road safety in the EU has resulted in a drop in the fatality rate. Official figures just released show that the number of people killed on Europe's roads fell by 8% in 2013. This follows on from the drop in fatalities of between 2011 and 2012. These provisional figures released by the European Commission provide grounds for optimism and Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said, “We welcome the reduction in the number of road deaths in Europe last yea
  • The US needs to address its road safety problems
    November 8, 2019
    The US has serious road safety issues that need to be addressed. In 2018, close to 36,600 people were killed in road crashes, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The fatality rate for 2018 represents a 2.4% drop from 2017. In addition, the road death rate/160 million vehicle km traveled also decreased by 3.4%, from 1.17 in 2017 to 1.13 in 2018. And the NHTSA says it is the lowest fatality rate since 2014. Nearly 36,600 people died on US roadways last year, a
  • US road safety concern at increasing fatalities
    September 2, 2016
    Concern has been expressed over the rise in road fatalities in the US. An analysis of road crash data has been called for in a bid to identify the primary causes of the increase in road deaths for 2015 compared with the previous year. During 2015 there were 35,092 road deaths in the US, a gain of 7.2% over the previous year. A combination of low fuel prices and a steady increase in the country’s economic activity have been known to be factors in the gain in road deaths. US citizens drove a record total dist
  • Thailand’s dangerous roads kill
    April 25, 2022
    Thailand’s dangerous roads are killers.