SAFETY STATISTICS
Road death figures faulty, say critics
The cost of accidents is estimated to be the equivalent of 3.4% of GDP annually, but critics say the figure could be far higher
While the government says its road safety strategies are having an impact on road deaths, critics say the human and economic toll is far higher than reported. They also claim the available information is insufficient to fully inform safety strategies. SA is more than halfway through the UN’s Decade of Action on Road Safety, which calls for a halving of road fatalities by 2020. The cost of accidents is estimated to be the equivalent of 3.4% of GDP annually, but critics say the figure could be far higher. They also say the death toll may be almost twice that of official figures. The total cost of accidents on SA’s roads in 2015 amounted to about R142.95bn, according to a 2016 study conducted by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and the Council For Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). According to the joint study, 13,967 people were killed in road accidents in 2010 and 12,702 in 2014, but these figures are widely disputed. Philip Hull, director of private advocacy gr...
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