WORLDVIEW: SA’s 17,000 annual road deaths – time for UK-style roadworthies

Car accidents are a particular bugbear of mine. Maybe it's because of twice being driven into in Johannesburg – once while parked at a petrol bowser, the other by a Congolese license-less and insurance free jumper of a red robot.

So I've been paying attention to a UK system that works efficiently. It's always rush hour on British roads. But there are very few breakdowns, because every car has to pass an annual roadworthy test (called the MOT), keeping infirm vehicles off the roads and the traffic flowing. Reading Biznews colleague Chris Bateman's assessment of the SA situation suggests something similar is long overdue.

Chris writes: "Half of all vehicles on South African roads are unroadworthy and more than 17,000 people are killed in road accidents annually. That costs the economy nearly R60 billion a year. Last week's shutting down of 24 non-compliant vehicle testing stations in Gauteng is a portentous start.

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