A road safety summit in Johannesburg on November 26-27 has brought together experts hoping to find solutions to South Africa’s road carnage crisis.
The summit is hosted by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) in partnership with Uber and comes two weeks before the start of the holiday season which sees heightened traffic volumes and accident rates.
“With the goal of halving serious injuries and fatalities by 2030, this gathering will be a continuation of 2023 discussions and will serve as a platform to reflect on our progress, identify gaps and chart a path forward to a safer road environment for all South Africans,” said the RTMC.
South Africa has set a target of reducing road fatalities by 50% from 13,967 recorded in 2010, according to the National Road Safety Strategy 2016 to 2030 (NRSS).
The RTMC said the country had made significant strides, pointing to a 15% reduction to 11,883 fatalities in 2023 — though it was lower than the target of an 18% reduction to 11,500 fatalities.
Only 10 countries achieved a 50% reduction in road fatalities. Reductions of 40%-49% were observed in 15 countries, 30%-39% in 20 countries, 20%-29% in 33 countries and 10%-19% in 19 countries, according to the World Health Organisation. During this period, reductions larger than 2% were observed in 108 countries.
Motoring Reporter
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