Road fatalities: did covid-19 impact trend in Cape Town?

Abstract

South Africa has a road traffic fatality rate per 100 000 population of 21.3 (RTMC, 2019; STATSSA, 2019), and is ranked 39 out of 175 countries for the highest road fatality rate, placing it in the worst 25% of countries around the world (WHO, 2018). This is an improvement from prior years when the rate was over 30 fatalities per 100 000 population. The year 2020 saw severe mobility restrictions being implemented by governments around the world to combat the spread of Covid-19. These restrictions improved air quality, while road fatalities and injuries decreased. This was also the case in South Africa, where the overall fatalities dropped below 10 000 persons, the first time since the early 2000s. Before the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Western Cape had a downwards road fatality trend. However, this was not the case for the City of Cape Town. This paper explores if Cape Town’s road safety trends have been able to benefit from the opportunity provided by Covid-19, as witnessed in many cities around the world. Unfortunately, the findings in this study indicate that Cape Town suffers from an increasing road fatality trend and pedestrians make up over 60% of these fatalities.