Road death figures faulty, say critics

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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.

Costs and death toll under reported

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 group Road Safety Foundation, said the relatively stable figures for road accident deaths, in an environment of increased traffic, might mean policies were working. But the figures didn't tally with information from hospitals or the foundation's own research, and the fatality figure could be as high as 20,000 to 25,000.

There was under-reporting, and police information often relied only on records when individuals were declared dead at the scene, said Hull.

DA transport spokesman Manny de Freitas said the last solid statistical data available was from 2008 - a year many agencies, including the RTMC and the South African National Roads Agency Limited, were established. Much of the institutional memory and many of the experienced personnel who used to conduct such research had since moved on.

RTMC spokesman Simon Zwane denied claims by civil society groups that the corporation had failed to make available statistics to them. He said the RTMC continued to work closely with stakeholders.

But according to the RTMC-CSIR report, in 2015 a total of 12,944 fatalities were recorded, although the report increased this by 5% due to underreporting - globally a problem. The report notes it had relied on RTMC information, which does not account for slight injuries or collisions where there was only damage. Numerous agencies and entities - from metropolitan police to insurance providers - were asked for information but no useful data was obtained, the report notes.

State interventions and strategies

A number of state interventions were imminent or continuing, including six commissions that are probing road safety related to regulation, commuter mobility and the capacity of emergency services.

Addressing the third national road safety summit in November, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters outlined numerous strategies, ranging from enforcement to the inclusion of road safety in the basic education curriculum. "Through the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Bill, we intend implementing the driver demerit point system and enhancing the adjudication process of road traffic infringements," Peters said. By 2017, community road safety councils would be established in all provinces, she said.

Hull said what may be needed was a new road safety agency - jointly funded by the state and private sector - that would coordinate strategy.

"There is no sustainability or continuity in planning. If it is a pure government initiative, the private sector doesn't take it that seriously; if it is private sector, the government doesn't take it that seriously."

Source: Business Day