The Department of Transport (DoT) recently announced that South Africa recorded a 15% drop in road fatalities since 2010.
In 2010, the country recorded a frightening 13,967 deaths on its roads, which dropped to 11,883 in 2023.
The DoT attributed the decline to the National Road Safety Strategy 2016-2030 which aims to halve road fatalities in the country by 2030.
While the marginal decline is a welcome one, it still leaves much to be desired. As it stands, the reduced death rate still puts South Africa among the highest globally in terms of road fatalities.
Lee Randall, independent road safety researcher and co-founder of the Road Ethics Project, says we are heading in the right direction, but not quick enough.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) set a goal of no more than 9,960 road deaths for the country in 2023 with the real number coming in 1,923 fatalities higher.
“If you equate our performance as a country to some sort of school subject, we’re kind of at the 32% mark in terms of where we wanted to be and that’s really not a fantastic mark, we need to jack up our act a great deal,” Randall told 702.
“Our death rate still puts us in the top quartile worldwide; we’re in the top third amongst African countries despite our having some very good ingredients for road safety; and we’re right near the top when we compare ourselves to other upper-middle-income countries.”
Compliance, compliance, compliance
Randall highlighted that South Africa has plenty of regulations in place to avoid accidents and fatalities, but that a key issue remains compliance from road users.
The RTMC recently adopted a global road safety initiative called Project Edward – which is shorthand for Every Day Without A Road Death.
Project Edward promotes an evidence-led “safe system” approach that aims to achieve a road traffic system that is free from death and serious injury.
“It’s highly aspirational given that at the moment we see about 33 road deaths per day, but I think it’s completely appropriate to adopt an aspirational strategy like that,” said Randall.
South Africa’s national road safety strategy is also built on the Vision Zero philosophy which similarly aims to achieve zero traffic fatalities, and is guided by the scientifically-proven “Safe System Model” of road safety.
“So we’ve got these fantastic ingredients and we’ve got top leadership that are now being extremely aspirational and pulling us to improve our standards a lot,” said Randall.
“Where we’re doing badly, is that although we have relatively good laws internationally speaking on things like drinking and driving, speeding, use of child seats and seatbelts, our actual compliance is extremely poor.”
She highlights that the South African public tends to condone and even glamourise serious transgressions such as speeding and drunk driving, and is very negligent when it comes to the most basic safety measures such as seatbelts and child restraints.
“We have a great deal to learn as a society and it really is a multifaceted responsibility,” said Randall.
Individual liberty vs The greater good
Individual liberty often clashes with the greater good when it comes to road safety in South Africa.
Randall highlights that motorists often tend to be in their own “bubble” when driving their cars and do not heed the wants and needs of their fellow road users.
“This is why road deaths are such an ethical crisis, because an individual wanting to drive fast in a large car for their own convenience to get to their destination as quickly as possible may be really disregarding the greater good,” said Randall.
As such, road deaths will only start diminishing if drivers start applying the principle of ubuntu, and realise that they are a small cog in a big machine and have a part to play in contributing to safer roads.
“What we in the Road Ethics Project always say, is be your best self on the road,” concluded Randall.
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