Road safety improvements in the city of Cape Town:an economy based approach

Abstract

Road safety is an undisputed problem in South Africa (SA). Zutobi, an innovative online driver education platform, rates SA as the world’s most dangerous country to drive in,largely based on low rates of seat belt use and extremely high prevalence of alcohol abuse. The road fatality rate stands at 26.9 fatalities per 100 000 population (RTMC, 2023). As the global average is 17 fatalities per 100 000 population (WHO, 2018), rates in this country are significantly higher. The City of Cape Town’s fatal crash rate is 15.5 per 100 000 residents (City of Cape Town, 2023). More than 50 000 crashes occurred in the city in 2021, which is estimated to have cost Cape Town’s economy more than R5.4 billion. The purpose of this paper is to propose and analyse interventions that can be implemented in the City of Cape Town to improve its road safety situation. Historical accident data is used to identify high accident areas in the metropolitan area. Site surveys are combined with data analysis to determine the possible causes of accidents at each site, and to identify the most appropriate road safety improvement interventions. An economic analysis is conducted for each location, indicating break-even values and potential cost savings over a 20-year horizon.