27-04-2025
SA's roads most dangerous in the world to drive on? Not so fast
SA's roads most dangerous in the world to drive on? Not so fast
Many would agree that driving on South Africa's roads can feel like an extreme sport. But is it the most dangerous country to drive in? According to Zutobi, an online drivers' education platform, it is.
In March, the platform released its 2023 ranking of 'the world's safest roads'. South Africa placed last, while Norway, Hungary and Iceland ranked safest.
South Africa's result was unquestioningly and widely covered in the local media, including in the Independent Online, SABC News, Radio Islam, Zululand Observer, Primedia Plus and My Broadband.
On social media, the claim attracted views in the hundreds of thousands.
But as with the 2022 report, the methodology used means we're not getting a reliable picture.
What is Zutobi and how does it rank road safety?
Zutobi operates in the US, UK, Australia, Sweden, Germany and France. It provides materials to help learner drivers pass their driver's test.
We have contacted the platform to find out why the 2023 report was only released in March 2025 and will update this report with their response.
The latest report again ranked 53 countries based on the following factors:
Estimated road traffic death rate per 100 000
Maximum motorway speed limit
Seatbelt wearing rate
Road traffic deaths attributed to alcohol
Blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for drivers
The survey's findings
South Africa had an estimated road traffic death rate of 24.5 per 100 000 people, Zutobi said.
It gave the country a maximum speed limit of 120 kilometres per hour, which it said was not far from the 110km/h limit in the safest country to drive in, Norway.
The report also said that South Africa had the highest amount of alcohol-related road traffic deaths, at 57.5%, and a seat-belt wearing rate of 31%.
For blood alcohol concentration, Zutobi only noted that South Africa's was 0.05 grams per decilitre.
To arrive at its overall findings, the survey said it gave each country 'a normalised score' out of 10 for each factor, and then calculated an average across all five factors.
Problems with the research methodology
But a closer look at the data revealed numerous problems. Zutobi's report covers just 53 countries, with South Africa, Mauritius and Morocco being the only ones from Africa.
For road deaths, the survey used the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Health Observatory. We could not find the corresponding figure.
The most recent data for South Africa is from 2019, at 22 deaths per 100 000 people. But nearly 60 countries had higher death rates. The list is topped by the Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe and Venezuela, with rates of 65, 41 and 39 respectively.
The WHO estimates deaths based on many factors, Binta Sako, a technical officer at the agency's Africa regional office, previously told Africa Check. As a result, its numbers are often higher than the reported numbers.
For traffic deaths attributed to alcohol, the WHO doesn't have stats for every country, particularly many in Africa. South Africa's rate, as the Zutobi report points out, was one of the highest globally at 57.5% of all crashes in 2017. That remains the most recent data.
However, the crash data covers only 93 countries and territories – less than half of the world. That list was headed by Micronesia, Tonga and Vanuatu where 100%, 77% and 67% of all crashes were attributed to alcohol.
The statistics on seat-belt wearing and BAC limits are also still from 2017, though the latter – 0.05g/dl – does tally with national law.
The WHO data shows seat-belt use was lower in Bolivia (3.5%), India (7.3%), Peru (15.8%) and Ecuador (26%) than in South Africa (31%). Dr Lee Randall, an independent researcher on road safety and co-founder of the Road Ethics Project, told Africa Check that this category ignores other motor vehicles, such as motorcycles, which 'form a very dominant part of the traffic mix in many countries, especially in Africa and South-East Asia'.
For speed limit data, Zutobi used Wikipedia. While it isn't considered reliable as anyone can edit it, the figure of 120km/h is correct.
Other sources used in the survey include the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Road Safety Observatory. But these don't have data for the majority of the world's 197 countries.
South Africa ranks 'somewhere in the middle'
Dr Randall has previously flagged significant issues with the research methods used to compile the 2022 report. She told Africa Check that her reservations still stand.
'The surveys are not scientifically sound. They [Zutobi] do not explain how they selected the countries they analysed, and don't justify why they are based on a sample which is heavily skewed towards high-income and upper-middle income countries and omits every single low-income country in the world.'
According to Randall, apart from safe speeds, the report focuses mainly on driver behaviours. This ignored other important factors of road traffic safety, such as safe vehicles, roadside safety and post-crash care, she said.
'Had a more representative sample of countries been chosen – from all regions and all income categories – it would be clear that South Africa is somewhere in the middle of the list, not at the bottom.'
This article was originally published on Africa Check, an organisation that identifies important public statements, interrogate the best available evidence and publish fact-checking reports to guide public debate.
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