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Accident StatisticsIn June 2005 the Road Traffic Management Corporation
(RTMC) published a comprehensive statistical analysis of
road traffic incidents.
It is estimated that the cost of road accidents to
individuals, commerce, communities and the country is in
the region of R38 billion annually. Every day an average
of 36 lives are lost on the road network. Of these 15 are
pedestrians and 3
are killed in taxi-related incidents. Around 20 people are
permanently disabled on our roads every day and more than
7,000 are left maimed each year. Approximately 100 people
are seriously injured on our roads daily. More than 90%
of accidents are attributed to pedestrian and driver
negligence, and ignorance of the law and code of the
road.
The result is a huge cost, both financially and in human
suffering.
In December 2005, 1,013,036 vehicles were registered in
KwaZulu-Natal, excluding light and heavy trailers,
caravans and unknown vehicles, which together totalled of
90,606. Trucks exceeding 3,500 tons GVM stood at 40,905,
in comparison to the 37,952 in 2004, creating an increase
of
7.2%.
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Table 1 shows that KZN performed better than the country
as a whole, and particularly well in relation to the
Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Free State. KwaZulu-Natal and
the Western Cape are the only provinces recording a
decrease in fatalities. Table 2 shows the number of vehicles involved in fatal
accidents by type and province in December 2004 and 2005.
KwaZulu-Natal's performance was better than the national
figure. A noteworthy achievement was a decline in the
number of trucks involved in fatal accidents in 2005.
Most road accidents occur as a result of human error and
offensive driving. Most accidents can be
attributed to two or more simultaneous offences.
Generally,
human factors such as alcohol abuse, non-adherence to
traffic rules, and
aggressive, reckless, fast, negligent and inconsiderate
driving are major contributory factors, to all accidents.
Vehicle factors, which account for 10-15% of all
accidents, include poor lights, smooth or damaged tyres
and poor brakes.
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