South Africa saw a reduction in road fatalities over 2017/18 festive period, according to statistics released by Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi.
From 1 December 2017 to 15 January 2018, 1,676 people died on South Africa’s roads. This is an 11% decrease in fatalities over the same period last festive season, when 1,875 people died.
Commenting on the statistics, the South African Automobile Association (AA) stated: “These numbers are promising and, hopefully, signal the start of a new trend where our country’s road fatality statistics show decreases instead of increases. Much, much more needs to be done to ensure our road deaths are reduced even further, and this year’s improved figures indicate some progress to achieving.”
The AA says that, despite the promising results, it is concerned with the number of pedestrians who were killed.
“We will continue our Walk Safe campaign in primary schools, as well as our visibility campaign to promote better pedestrian visibility, as part of our contribution to dealing more effectively with these problems,” the AA added.
