Towards the second decade of action for road safety:Improving crash data recording in South Africa

Abstract

The National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act 93 of 1996) (Department of Transport, 1996) requires that all crashes be reported to any police officer at a police station, or any office set aside by a competent authority (e.g., Metro Police), using the official Accident Report (AR) form. Although this form is relatively comprehensive in comparison to the USA and Europe, certain details are still filled in at the discretion of the official populating the form. One detail that is often omitted, is a spatial reference (coordinate) information of where a crash has taken place. Currently, virtually no fatal crashes reported to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) have coordinate information included. This research demonstrates the importance of coordinate data in crash reporting and subsequently, in implementing mitigating measures to reduce fatalities. The study draws from countries where the recording of spatial reference is well-implemented. This study is important for South Africa in the current conjuncture of road safety. South Africa is a signatory of the United Nations Decade of Action (UNDoA) for Road Safety, and part of the global efforts to reduce the number of crashes by half by 2030 (RTMC, 2022).