At least five people were declared dead in multi-vehicle crash on the N3. Images: Twitter/@TrafficSA and @Dotransport.
Easter fatalities increase from 161 to 225 with young men leading
Young men accounted for 70% of the total number of the 2023 Easter fatalities and only three provinces recorded a decrease.
At least five people were declared dead in multi-vehicle crash on the N3. Images: Twitter/@TrafficSA and @Dotransport.
A total number of 225 fatalities were recorded in the 2023 Easter period compared to 161 over the same period in the past year.
This was revealed by Transport Minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga on Friday, 14 April as she released the official statistics.
EASTER FATALITIES INCREASE IN 2023
According to the Department of Transport, the total number of fatal crashes this year is 185 resulting in 225 fatalities as opposed to the same period the previous year when 135 fatal crashes that resulted in 161 fatalities were recorded.
The statistics on gender classification shows that there was a decrease in female fatalities from 28% in 2022 to 19% in 2023 and male fatalities increased from 67% in 2022 to 70%.
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THREE PROVINCES RECORD A DECREASE IN DEATHS
An increase in fatalities was recorded in all provinces except in Mpumalanga, Western Cape and the North West. The other six provinces that recorded an increase.
The high number of road users who perished on roads are pedestrians, who accounted for 44,4% of all fatalities, followed by passengers at 27,7%. Drivers accounted for 25.6%;cyclists at 1,3% while the road user status of 1% could not be determined.
The highest number of pedestrians died in collisions that happened in the Western Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
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The highest number of fatalities occurred on Friday and the lowest number was recorded on Thursday. Most of the fatalities occurred at 15:00 and 22:00 and were predominantly characterised by hit and run crashes, single vehicle overturned, pedestrian collisions and head on collisions.
Human factors, which include reckless and negligent driving, was the most prominent contributing factor in all fatalities at 96,2 followed by road and environmental factors at 4.5% while vehicle factors were the least contributor at 1,1%.
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