How fast do South Africans drive? VERY, finds new report
How fast do South Africans drive exactly? Well, speaking subjectively, I'd argue 'very fast.' South Africa is blessed with a lot of wide-open space and high-quality roads. Not to mention plenty of affluence for a high percentage of the population to drive good cars. And don't get us started on the minibus taxis, which can time travel with double the legal passenger allotment on board.
Nevertheless, a UK-based company, MoneySuperMarket, has introduced some science into the equation. It has released a new report on the countries with the fastest/slowest average driving speeds globally. So, let's find out how South Africans rate against the rest … Image of a speed gun for illustrative purposes only. Image: File
Out of 37 nations counted, South Africa places in the top half, at number 12 on the list. According to the data, South Africa has an average driving speed of 93.6 km/h. Interestingly, America ranks number one with a 109.5 km/h average. And the small Mediterranean island of Malta comes lowest with an average journey completed at just 23 km/h.
Of course, the report's methodology is important to help understand the findings. It seems to look at an average journey in each country through the distribution of types of roads and density of cars. For example, America has a lot of high-speed highways and sufficient roadways. While a small island like Malta, is made up of mostly urban roads and densely packed with lots traffic in comparison. We nearly drive as fast as the Germans, and we don't even have a derestricted Autobahn. Image: File
Other notable nations above 100 km/h average speed are Canada (ranked second at 107.9 km/h, Oman third at 104.7 km/h, Croatia fourth at 102.9 km/h and Hungary fifth at 101.5 km/h. Looking purely at urban average driving speed (not listed below), Estonia is the fastest at 46.6 km/h, followed by Brunei with an average of 46.3 km/h. Check out the full list below: 1. United States 109.5 km/h
2. Canada 107.9 km/h
3. Croatia 102.9 km/h
4. France 101.5 km/h
5. Hungary 101.2 km/h
6. China 98.8 km/h
7. Spain 98.4 km/h
8. Australia 97.5 km/h
9. Italy 97.5 km/h
10. Argentina 96.0 km/h
11. Germany 93.9 km/h
12. South Africa 93.6 km/h
13. Poland 92.9 km/h
14. Chile 92.5 km/h
15. Morocco 92.5 km/h
16. Portugal 92.0 km/h
17. United Kingdom 86.1 km/h
18. Ireland 85.1 km/h
19. Mexico 84.9 km/h
20. Russia 83.8 km/h
21. Japan 80.3 km/h
22. Botswana 79.6 km/h
23. Brazil 73.4 km/h
24. Mongolia 73.4 km/h
25. Thailand 73.0 km/h
26. Greece 68.9 km/h
27. Belgium 65.3 km/h
28. New Zealand 62.1 km/h
29. Indonesia 61.9 km/h
30. India 59.1 km/h
31. Bolivia 54.6 km/h
32. Bhutan 37.6 km/h
33. Saint Lucia 37.1 km/h
34. Haiti 35.5 km/h
35. Sri Lanka 35.5 km/h
36. Gambia 30.8 km/h
37. Malta 23.0 km/h
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