by According to the International Transports Forum, South Africa has the most dangerous roads in the world. As many as 40 people die on our roads every day.
Last year, the Road Traffic Management Corporation estimated that about 5500 people were killed while commuting between April to August 2015.
This is worryingly high for a time period that is outside the usual festival season. With this in mind, we sought to find the best and worst drivers in South Africa as well as what car they are most likely to drive. This is what we found…
*Please note race isn’t included as a factor but has just been used to represent diversity in the infographic
How the Data Was Collected
All data was collected by the Discovery Insure study which showed the driver’s age, gender, make and colour of vehicle, as well as their driving habits.
The 10 largest metros in SA examined included Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, Nelspruit, Durban, Bloemfontein, Polokwane, Pietermaritzburg and East London. With a total of 30 000 app users.
The Discovery Insure app was designed to provide a multitude of functions. For one, it showed the consumers where they were speeding and potentially driving in a dangerous manner. And two, it indicated to Discovery potential interest points and information about its consumers.
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The Following Actions Were Measured
- Harsh braking
- Sharp cornering
- Acceleration
- Speeding
- Accidents
- Late-night driving
The Safest Provinces in South Africa
According to the report of the 30 000 Discovery Insure drivers, Port Elizabeth was the clear winner and safest city to drive. Whereas Nelspruit is South Africa’s most unsafe driving city.
1st – Port Elizabeth
2nd – Cape Town
3rd – Bloemfontein
4th – Polokwane
5th – Johannesburg
6th – Pretoria
7th – Pietermaritzburg
8th – East London
9th – Durban
10th – Nelspruit
The Safest Drivers (By Age) in South Africa
It was gathered that older drivers are better drivers than younger ones. The ranking is as indicated underneath.
1st – 60 and Above
2nd – 36 to 60
3rd – 26 to 35
4th – 18 to 25
The Safest Drivers (By Gender) In South Africa
Ding, ding, ding! The battle of the sexes returns. According to the information, while men braked softer and used their phones less while driving, women had a smoother acceleration, balanced cornering and good speeding.
The Safest Cars in South Africa
The below data collated the safest drivers and what car they usually drive. There definitely seems to be a trend between the speedsters and their ranking. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi were all ranked last.
1st – Hyundai
2nd – Honda
3rd – Opel
4th – Toyota
5th – Nissan
6th – Ford
7th – Volkswagen
8th – Mercedes-Benz
9th – BMW
10th – Audi
The Safest and Most Dangerous Drivers (By Car Colour) In South Africa
In terms of the safest car to drive, this is naturally more dependent on the driver inside. It is interesting to see, however, who came in 4th, 5th and last place and the possible reasoning behind that.
The colour blue seems to be the safest colour as it is probably the most visible, especially when set against a natural terrain.
1st – Blue
2nd – White
3rd – Red
4th – Metallic
5th – Silver
6th – Black
