South African youth urged to prioritise road safety
The highest number of road fatalities is noticeable among those between the ages of 30 and 39 years.
Kwatsaduza – The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) urges the South African youth to prioritise road safety to ensure that the country has a sustainable future.
This plea comes as the country celebrates Youth Month with the theme ‘Accelerating Youth Economic Emancipation for a Sustainable Future’.
Youth-related road crashes and injuries constitute a significant health challenge and burden the economy and social infrastructure.
RTMC spokesperson, Simon Zwane, said statistics revealed young people between the ages of 20 and 39 years are more likely to die or be injured in a motor vehicle crash and have more motor vehicle crash-related hospitalisation and emergency room visits.
“According to the statistics collected by the Road Traffic Management Corporation, 49.7% of people who died on the roads in 2022 were aged between 20 and 39.
“The highest number of road fatalities is among those between the ages of 30 and 39 years.
“A total number of people of all age groups who died on the roads in South Africa last year is 12 436, which was a 0.8% decline compared to the 12 545 that died the previous year,” said Zwane.
“Around the world, young people have been identified as a high-risk group for road safety because they are inexperienced and tend to overestimate their abilities.
“Their behaviour patterns are associated with expectations and social pressures that promote risk-taking. Many tend to be oriented towards and are sensitive to peer pressure.
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“They are responsive to their immediate environments where they are limited in self-control, and disinclined to focus on long-term consequences, all of which leads to compromised decision-making skills.”
Zwane said in line with a call by the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, young people in South Africa must claim their space in debates and shaping policies intended to make roads safer.
“To facilitate this, the RTMC, in collaboration with the national Department of Transport, provincial, non-government organisations, institutions of higher education and the private sector will be engaging in advocacy work during June to promote responsible road usage by the youth.
“Seminars, road safety dialogues and exhibitions will be held in all provinces to engage young people in finding solutions to the country’s road safety challenges,” he said.
