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

  • Tackling India’s road safety will reduce crash rate
    February 19, 2013
    India’s road safety record is the world’s worst but there are plans to tackle the problems. Patrick Smith reports from New Delhi. A speeded up video of a short section of road in the Indian capital Delhi was followed by a question. “How many infringements did you count in that 25-second clip on a typical day in Delhi,” asked Dr Rohit Baluja, a question that brought understandable silence. It equated to hundreds of millions of infringements each year, said Dr Baluja, president, Institute of Road Traffic Educ
    Read More
  • European Transport Safety Commission makes call for traffic safety boost
    July 10, 2015
    In 2013, 7,600 people died in road traffic while cycling or walking in European Union (EU) countries – the equivalent of a commercial airliner full of passengers being lost every week Because of this risk of death, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) wants vehicle manufacturers and local authorities to pay special attention to improving safety for cyclists, walkers and pedestrians. In a new report, the ETSC said the numbers being killed are falling more slowly than those for vehicle occupants. Over
    Read More
  • Enforcement lack affects safety on Europe’s roads
    June 17, 2016
    Insufficient police enforcement across Europe is damaging road safety, according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). Two reports available through the ETSC say that a fall in the level of police enforcement of traffic offences is contributing to Europe’s failure to cut the numbers dying in road collisions. More than 26,000 people died on EU roads last year, the first increase since 2001 according to the ETSC annual road safety performance index (PIN) report. Exceeding speed limits, drink or
    Read More
  • TISPOL 2017: Europe’s road safety record suffers as austerity bites hard
    December 21, 2017
    Police budgets are being slashed, staff numbers are falling and Europe’s long-term trend towards ever-fewer road deaths has ground to a halt. Does Europe’s road network face a far more dangerous future? Geoff Hadwick reports from TISPOL 2017 in Manchester, UK. Europe’s road safety record is under threat. Lower and lower funding levels have become a very serious, and very worrying, problem for the EU’s traffic police bosses. They know that they must find new ways to focus road users on changing their beha
    Read More

Highlighted Content