Pedestrian Casualties and Fatalities in Road Traffic Crashes in a South African Municipality

Abstract

A study of the pedestrian casualties and fatalities in road traffic crashes in Durban, a South African municipality, for 1999 was undertaken using official road traffic accident data. The pedestrians age 25 to 44, although only 23.9% of the population, were 39.3% of the casualties and 48.2% of the fatalities. The most vulnerable pedestrians were those 30 to 34 years old who were 6.1% of the population, 11.7% of the casualties, and 14.6% of the fatalities; 35- to 39-year-olds who were 6% of the population, 8.8% of the casualties, and 13.5% of the fatalities; and the 40- to 44-year-olds who were 4.9% of the population, 7.5% of the casualties, and 10.2% of the fatalities. Cars were involved in 52% of the vehicle-pedestrian crashes but had fewer crashes than minibuses and buses, and fewer casualties and fatalities than minibuses, buses, and motorcycles. Minibuses recorded the most crashes at 1,037 per 100 million km, the highest casualty rate of 268 per 100 million km, and highest fatality rate of 17 per 100 million km. Buses, which were involved in 3% of the vehicle-pedestrian crashes, had 951 crashes per 100 million km, 182 casualties per 100 million km, and 11 fatalities per 100 million km. Motorcycles were involved in 1% of the vehicle-pedestrian crashes and had per 100 million km 508 crashes, 192 casualties, and 7 fatalities. There was no statistically significant difference in the monthly distribution of the road traffic crashes.

Keywords:

• Casualties
• Fatalities
• Pedestrians
• Road Traffic Crashes
• South Africa