Road Deaths. A Data Blackout
EVERY TIME I BOARD A MINIBUS TAXI I find myself considering what life insurance and funeral plans I have in place, since I might soon die a horrible death. Every few weeks there’s a story in the local newspaper about a fatal accident involving a taxi along the very same route I use to commute to Richards Bay from my home town of eSikhaleni.
As a passenger, I want to be reassured that my “chosen” mode of transport is as safe as we can all help it. As a journalist, I want to know the number of road deaths involving all passengers, whether they travel using private vehicles or public transport like taxis. In a nutshell, I want to find out how many lives South Africa is willing to lose on the roads each year.
I recently read a story by a self named “militant feminist” on a major online publication in which the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, claimed that 78.4% of fatal accidents in the 2016 festive season were as a result of “stubborn, male chauvinism”. I figured that 78.4% is quite significant, and I thought maybe this is where we need to start in terms of tackling these vrrr-pha driving tendencies.
This story is from the April 2017 edition of Noseweek.
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This story is from the April 2017 edition of Noseweek.
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