EARLY WARNING - Dangerous Roads In South Africa

EARLY WARNING – Dangerous Roads In South Africa


By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting February 2010.

I don’t think that there is a single person in South Africa that has not been affected in some way by the road construction that is taking place all over.

I know that one of my greatest frustrations and no doubt, one of the most consistent time wasters, is going down a road that I haven’t been on for some time, only to discover that there is a detour or worse still, that the road works brings the traffic to a dead stop.

These are contributing factors that add to ‘road rage’ which sees normal human beings degenerate into monsters. The result is absolute carnage on the roads and thousands of lives are lost annual on South African roads. As in most things, some things are worse than others. Here is a list of the most dangerous 4 roads in South Africa.

• The 388km stretch between King Williamstown and Kokstad. Average incident rate is 7.65 per 10kms.
• The 35km stretch between Sandton in Gauteng and Pretoria (past Centurion and Midrand). Average incident rate is 48.29 per 10kms.
• The 54km stretch between Kingsburg and Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal.
• The 102km stretch between Durban and Howick on the N3 is KwaZulu-Natal.

The above represents the worst of the worst in the country with the first two tying for the worst spot.

Please find listed below the worst five areas in the various provinces throughout the country as per an extract from the comprehensive table on the Arrive Alive website.


Gauteng

From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
Sandton Pretoria N1 35 169 48.29
Lenasia Germiston N12 48 122 25.42
Boksburg Daveyton N12 18 38 21.11
Heidelberg Bedfordview N3 51 107 20.98
Bedfordview Sandton N3 25 52 20.80

KwaZulu-Natal

From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
Kingsburg Tongaat N2 59 162 27.46
Durban Howick N3 102 178 17.45
Harding Winkelspruit N2 166 186 11.20
Stanger Hluhluwe N2 125 119 9.52
Pietermartizburg Richmond R56 30 23 7.67

Western Cape


From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
Cape Town Worcester N1 91 156 17.36
Knysna Plettenburg Bay N2 27 39 14.44
Cape Town Somerset West N2 42 55 13.10
Somerset West Rivier-sonderend N2 71 69 9.72
Cape Town Citrusdal N7 161 101 6.27

Eastern Cape

From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
King Williamstown Kokstad N2 388 279 7.65
Umtata Port St Johns R61 89 54 6.07
Plettenburg Bay King Williamstown N2 329 156 4.74
Fort Beaufort King Williamstown R63 88 39 4.43
Port St Johns Port Edward R61 201 87 4.33

Free State


From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
Harrismith Villiers N3 145 129 8.90
Heilbron Sasolburg R57 55 27 4.91
Bloemfontein Ladybrand N8 125 50 4.00
Bloemfontein Vaal River N1 352 111 3.15

Mpumalanga


From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
Witbank Waterval Boven N4 98 109 11.12
Waterval Boven Hectorspruit N4 162 105 6.48
Springs Witbank N12 98 59 6.02
Volksrust Greylingstad R23 139 83 5.97
Barberton Hazyview R40 88 47 5.34

North West Province


From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
Stilfontein Lenasia N12 57 11 19.47
Rustenburg Magaliesburg R24 46 47 10.22
Lobatse Hartebeesport N4 175 146 8.34
Nnbatho Zeerust R49 68 42 6.18
Bloemhof Stilfontein N12 169 62 3.67
Limpopo


From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
Maubane Polokwane N1 210 138 6.57
Polokwane Namanmakgale R71 144 138 6.57
Polokwane Nusina N1 263 97 3.69
Polokwane Burgersfort R37 149 43 2.89
Origstad Tzaneen R36 138 201.45

Northern Cape

From To Road Distance Fatal Crashes Crashes per Km
Kimberley Warrenton N12 47 30 6.38
Barkley West Kimberley R31 32 10 3.13
Groblershoop Upington N10 102 20 1.96
Three Sisters Colesberg N1 305 54 1.77
Springbok Vioolsdrift N7 118 18 1.53

The bottom line – it’s not always about how we drive, but also how others drive and how we interact with those others.

Take care out there people.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za