Ways of Reducing Accidents on South African Roads

Road accidents claim between 13,000 and 14,000 lives annually in South Africa. Many victims are jaywalking pedestrians, often under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Motorists are involved in fatal accidents due to various human, vehicle and road factors. With the annual increase in vehicle ownership and use, the question is how to lower the fatality rate in South Africa? In order to substantially lower the fatality rate on South African roads, stringent speed enforcement should be implemented and measures adopted to bring amenities closer to informal settlements prone to jaywalking; coupled with education, enforcement and engineering. Fine-tuning the annual reduction of road fatalities involves enforcement to reduce vehicles prone to tyre bursts and engineering techniques to minimise road sections that are wet, slippery or have sharp bends.