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A RECENT study by an Australian insurance company, Compare The Market, claims that South Africans are among the worst drivers in the world.
This study used statistics by The World Bank to compare fatal accident rates across different countries and genders.
South Africa has the highest fatal road accident rate overall across both genders, while the country with the lowest road mortality rate is the UK. According to Compare The Market, South Africa reported just under 45 fatal accidents per 100,000 people.
However, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has disputed the findings. RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane disputed the number, saying that according to the 2022 Road Safety Report, the rate of road fatalities in South Africa was 20 per 100,000 people.
“Even though the population is going up, our rate of fatalities per 100,000 is going down,” he said.
The study also found that South Africa has the largest gender gap in the number of fatal accidents – males at 34.9 per 100,000 people, and females at 9.9 per 100,000 people.