ISS Seminar, Cape Town: Putting the Brakes On Road Traffic Fatalities in Africa

Date: 2012-10-16

Venue: , Institute for Security Studies, 2nd Floor, The Armoury, Buchanan Square, 160 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa

RSVP:
Mr Thembani Mbadlanyana
Tel: +27 21 461 7211

E-mail: [email protected]

Please note this seminar has been cancelled.

Currently, road traffic accidents worldwide are estimated to claim the lives of 1,4 million people a year and injure an additional 20–50 million. By 2050 the International Futures (IFs) forecasting model anticipates that global traffic deaths will surpass 3 million people a year. This forecast shows that Africa will be particularly hard hit and will account for over 1 million of these deaths, or 35 per cent of the global total. To put this in perspective, by 2050, traffic accidents in Africa will kill almost the same number of people annually as now die from HIV/AIDS in East and Southern Africa combined. And, of every 20 Africans who die in 2050, one will be killed in a traffic accident. 

What began as a problem in the developed world now affects most low-income countries in general, and African countries in particular. Due to increasing motorisation and lagging infrastructure development, road traffic injuries in Africa are now a serious cause for concern. However, despite the significant numbers of Africans being injured or killed in this way, road traffic accidents do not get policy attention. More so, they do not receive the same coverage as other public health issues such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Questions arise in this regard. Why are African countries not prioritising traffic fatalities in their policy programme design and implementation? Are African countries responding to the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020, calling on UN member states, international agencies, civil society organisations, businesses and community leaders to promote efforts to curb rising traffic injuries and fatalities? Are African countries doing enough to implement national traffic strategies? And more importantly, what could be the positive economic and social effects of reduced traffic injuries and deaths in Africa? These are some of the questions that will form a major part of the discussion.

To provide answers to these questions, seminar presentations will draw upon South African experiences in dealing with traffic fatalities. The aim is not only to share some perspectives on road accidents but also to understand traffic fatalities as a development issue, analysing the risk factors that contribute to accidents and suggesting interventions that address these risks.

Chair

• Charles Goredema, ISS Senior Research Fellow

Speaker

• Anesh Sukhai, Unit Manager / Senior Scientist
MRC-UNISA Safety & Peace Promotion Research Unit,
Medical Research Council

Discussants

• Nomagcisa Tsipa-Sipoya, Senior Manager, Land Transport Safety Management, Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works (TBC)
  
  
• Melissa Whitehead, Executive Director, City of Cape Town, Transport, Roads and Storm Water Directorate (TBC)

Please note: All ISS events occur under the ISS Rule, which means no attribution without specific permission, unless indicated otherwise.  

This event is made possible through funding from the Hanns Seidel Foundation