Crime and Road Safety Intricately Linked

January 11 - Crimes such as murders and robberies always catch the headlines, but one area that does not get enough attention is that fact that crimes also lead to scores of deaths on South Africa's roads every single day.

The Manager of Image and Reputation of the South African Insurance Association, Vivienne Pearson, pointed out that up to 36 people on average die each day on the roads, and that 90% of accidents involved a crime prior to the event.

"In general, a link between high crime rates and high accident rates in South Africa exists because of a distinct lack of a law abiding culture and society, amongst other reasons," she said.

So what constitutes a crime on the road? These could be anything ranging from skipping a traffic light to driving under the influence.

All of these could cause serious traffic accidents, with a high cost in assets and money, not to mention the lives.

According to Pearson, another link exists between high accident rates and high rates of car crime.

With many cars stolen for their parts, they are usually re-registered and sold back to South African drivers,.

"Many methods exist to make re-registration of vehicles possible," said Pearson. "One of these including buying accident damaged vehicles and/or wrecks, or even just the records of these vehicles, in order to use these records for stolen vehicles."

"The details of the stolen vehicles are then changed to match the record of the accident damaged vehicle," concluded Pearson. "In this way, a stolen vehicle obtains a legitimate life of its own."