Most people around South Africa and around the world are aware of the sometimes shocking crime statistics in South Africa. A lesser known fact though, is the shocking amount of road accidents and fatalities that take place on South African roads on a daily basis. What are the road accident statistics and what is being done to resolve this obvious road safety issues in our country?
The Statistics
Recent statistics indicate that an average of 36 people die on South Africa’s roads on an average day. We then have the shockingly high death toll that we experience over Easter weekend and the festive season every year. The 2010 December/January festive season in South Africa resulted in over 1500 deaths as a result of accidents on the road. In the four days over the 2009 Easter weekend, there were 197 fatalities due to road traffic accidents. Good news for roadside assistance trucks and companies that repair autoglass, however this does not bode well for our road safety.
The shocking statistic in relation to this is that 90% of all these accidents occurred as a result of one or more of the parties involved in the accident, having broken at least one road safety law prior to the collision. Infringements that are recognized as “breaking the law” on the road can be anything from speeding to ignoring a road safety sign. The culprits, according to Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, are not any particular group of people, but rather selfish individuals who don’t care for other motorists on the road.
What’s being done?
In reply to this terrible road accident news, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, revealed in January that they will FINALLY be implementing the demerit system that has been discussed in great length for the last four or five years. He said that the aim is to implement this road safety system from the 1st of April this year.
How does the demerit system work?
Drivers start with a clean slate of 12 points each year. For every road safety violation of any kind, drivers will be fined as usual, however, they will now also be docked a certain number of points depending on the extent of their violation. EG: Driving 30km/h over the speed limit will result in 4 points being docked off your allocation of 12 points. If all of a driver’s points are lost, that driver will have their license suspended for a certain amount of time, thus avoiding them from causing further road accidents.
The system significantly rewards safe drivers. If you make it through a year without losing any points and without making road accident news, you receive another 12 points; your existing points get carried over and you get given one bonus point. This means you will have 25 points for the next year. Personally, I think this is a bit too rewarding, but at least it’s sending out a message that driving with road safety in mind will be rewarded.
There is no doubt that South African road safety is a massive issue in the country. Only time will tell if the demerit system will eventually be implemented, and whether or not it will have a positive effect on the road accident statistics in South Africa. In the meantime, remember to be safe and “arrive alive!”
Writer for Freshly Social and Orginal Buzz