Festive season road death toll down, but ‘not good enough’

Drunk driving, reckless driving and speeding contributed to the 1 427 deaths on the country’s roads during the festive season.

Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, during her release of the preliminary 2023-24 festive season statistics, said there had been a 2.3% decline compared to the previous year.

The economic impact of road crashes, fatalities and injuries amounted to billions of rands, which placed an enormous burden on health and social services.

WATCH: More than 1 400 people died on SA’s roads over festive season

“Cumulative annual road fatalities have been continuously declining from 2018 to 2022,” she said.

“The number of annual road deaths in the period have decreased from 12 921 to 12 436 [respectively].”

The Automobile Association (AA) said the deaths of 1 427 road users during the festive period was still too high and more needed to be done to effectively deal with road safety in South Africa.

“The number of deaths … is 25 lower than the previous year and we acknowledge the efforts of law enforcers to deal more effectively with road safety,” it said.

Chikunga said the preliminary statistics told only part of the story. On face value, crashes over the festive season almost levelled off when compared to last year.

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She highlighted the 2023-24 festive season had been marked by heavy rain, which created challenges on the road.

“Unfortunately, some drivers did not modify their speed in slippery and wet conditions, and that resulted in avoidable crashes and, as we saw in a few incidents in KwaZulu-Natal, some drivers insisted on [crossing] flooded bridges, resulting in tragedy when vehicles were washed away.”

More cars on the road

Chikunga said the number of registered vehicles on 1 December stood at 13.13 million, 168 000 more than the previous year. Information from the toll concessionaires showed roads were “extremely busy, with traffic volumes reaching 853 564 at the peak … on 20 December”.

The AA said urgent intervention was required to deal more effectively with road safety. Without such intervention, the horrific road fatality numbers reported annually by the department of transport would not decrease meaningfully.

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A closer examination of the crashes and fatalities over the 2023-24 festive period depicted trends, said Chikunga. Most of the crashes occurred in the first week – payday week, “when people were having Christmas parties – as well as the third and fourth weeks of December.

“The third week incorporated the long weekend, industry closure and people started travelling. The fourth week incorporated the Christmas long weekend and it saw a massive increase in traffic volumes and festivities.

“Human factors contributed 80.8% of the crashes, environmental factors contributed 10.4% as a result of heavy rainfall and storms that had a big impact on road use, and vehicle factors contributed 8.8%.”

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She said 40.9% of those who died were pedestrians, while passengers accounted for 33.6%, drivers 24.6% and cyclists 0.8%.

The majority of those who died were aged 25 to 44. The AA said the country should guard against viewing the reduced number as a victory, calling “the dire road safety situation in South Africa a national crisis”.

“Heightened law enforcement over four-week period will not result in improved road safety when, for the other 48 weeks of the year, law enforcement is weak,” it said.

Chikunga responded her department would engage with the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union on proposals to improve traffic law enforcement.