South Africa’s speed limits versus the rest of the world

While policymakers blame high speed limits for contributing to South Africa’s high level of road fatalities, the country’s speed limits aren’t exactly out of sync with the rest of the world.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) proposed reducing the country’s speed limits by 10km/h across the board in 2022, which it said would help reduce road fatalities.

It said the proposed changes would align South Africa’s regulations with United Nations (UN) recommendations, which it added are binding for the country as a member of the UN roads council.

“We also have, as part of the overall 365 campaign, a focus on speed reduction,” the RTMC said.

The changes would see South Africa’s speed limits in built-up areas and on main roads reduced to 50km/h and 90km/h, respectively. The country’s 120km/h motorway speed limit would be reduced to 100km/h.

This proposal to decrease South Africa’s speed limits has been widely criticised.

According to driving skills and road safety expert Rob Handfield-Jones, lowering speed limits would have little impact on reducing road deaths.

He emphasised that there is no evidence to suggest that tighter speed limits would reduce road deaths, adding that the focus on speed enforcement is because it is relatively easy and profitable.

Handfield-Jones said more pressing issues, such as disregard for other road laws, licence fraud, and intoxicated drivers, are what make the country’s roads unsafe.

He explained that South Africa has had one major broad-scale initiative regarding speed limits aimed at passenger vehicles: the Arrive Alive campaign, launched in 1998.

According to Handfield-Jones, 1998 was the safest year on South Africa’s roads in the country’s history. It had a road fatality rate of 6.9 deaths per 100 million vehicle kilometres (mvk).

He said the figure had doubled to 12.02 deaths per 100mvk despite the near-exclusive focus on speed limit enforcement.

He also noted that just 1.4 million speeding fines were issued in 1998, while the current figure is closer to 12 million per year.

“Yet our fatality rate is probably at least quadruple what it was in 1998,” said Handfield-Jones.

The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) has also said it won’t support a blanket reduction in speed limits without the government addressing other critical issues on the country’s roads.

“While we appreciate the RTMC’s commitment to reducing road fatalities and enhancing public safety, we believe that any such changes must be underpinned by a more holistic and evidence-based approach,” it told MyBroadband.

“Without meaningful improvements to road infrastructure, simply lowering speed limits is unlikely to deliver the safety outcomes intended.”

Speed limit comparison with 12 other countries

MyBroadband compared South Africa’s national speed limits to those from 12 other countries, including several African, Asian, and European countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

South Africa, Botswana, and China are the only countries with 60km/h speed limits on roads in built-up areas, with most other nations enforcing 50km/h limits.

It should be noted that while the minimum speed limit for these roads in the US is 32km/h, speed enforcement varies from state to state, and some allow speeds of up to 89km/h in built-up areas.

South Africa’s speed limit for main roads is 100km/h, matching countries like Australia, China, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Countries like Botswana, Denmark, Nigeria, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, and some US states enforce lower speed limits on main roads.

Other US states allow speed limits up to 120km/h on main roads. Only one country, New Zealand, has national speed limits on main roads higher than South Africa’s 100km/h limit.

Regarding the limits enforced on motorways, South Africa’s speed limit is 120km/h, matching that of Botswana, China, and Thailand.

Five of the countries compared and some US states enforce speed limits lower than 120km/h on their motorways. These include Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, and the UK.

It should be noted that Australia’s speed limits vary in different federal territories.

In built-up areas and main roads, speed limits in Australia’s Northern Territory are 10km/h higher than the rest of the country. The Northern Territory’s speed limit on motorways is 130km/h.

Germany’s autobahn, or highway system, doesn’t enforce any speed limits, but a maximum speed of 130km/h is recommended.

The table below compares South Africa’s speed limits to those in Australia, Botswana, China, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, and the US.