Responding to road safety challenges : proposed pedestrian safety measures for Durban CBD

Abstract

The cost of road accidents in South Africa was estimated at R162,045 billion or 3,48% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2017 (RTMC, 2017) with each fatal road traffic crash costing the economy some R5,717,351.00. In the same year, KwaZulu Natal province had 2800 road crash fatalities, which is approximately 20% of South Africa’s annual road crash fatalities (RTMC, 2016). The city of eThekwini is not sparred as there has been more than 50 000 road crashes per year, with more than 500 deaths each year since the year 2000 (ETA, 2016). To respond to these challenges, The city of eThekwini has commenced with the project of improving road safety in the central business district (CBD) by implementing some engineering interventions. This is in line with the city’s vision of making eThekwini the most liveable city in Africa by 2030 (eThekwini, 2021). These engineering interventions are also aimed at making the CBD safe to all, but more importantly, to pedestrians and other non-motorized transport users. This will be done using traffic calming measures to slow down vehicles and therefore protect pedestrians while crossing or walking in the Durban CBD. The intension is to ensure that speeds within the Durban CBD are regulated such that a vehicle cannot travel more than 40 km/hr.