South Africa’s road safety crisis is no longer defined by isolated incidents, it is shaped by a daily pattern of preventable risk.

CTU, a South African specialist transport insurer working closely with taxi owners, bus operators, fleet managers and commercial vehicle drivers, sees the consequences of unsafe driving behaviour every day through claims data, loss trends and on-road risk patterns. This frontline view places CTU at the intersection of insurance, road safety and transport economics.

Across the country, crashes involving taxis, buses, trucks and private vehicles continue to dominate traffic reports and public concern. While the circumstances vary, CTU notes that many of the underlying causes remain consistent: impatience, poor judgement, and a widespread disregard for basic road rules that exist for one reason only, to keep people alive.

South Africa’s roads are shared spaces. Yet too often they are treated as competitive environments, where speed, confidence or vehicle type is used to justify dangerous behaviour. The truth is simple and unforgiving: physics does not negotiate. Size, weight and momentum apply equally to every driver, regardless of intent.

Road markings remain one of the most ignored, yet most important safety tool. Solid white and yellow lines are not optional indicators. They mark high-risk zones such as blind rises, sharp bends and areas with limited stopping distance. Crossing them removes the safety margin designed to prevent head-on collisions. When these markings are ignored, the room for error disappears.

Road etiquette becomes essential when different vehicle types share the road. Passenger vehicles must recognise that taxis, buses and trucks accelerate more slowly, have wider turning circles and far less manoeuvrability. Cutting in front of them, braking suddenly or forcing gaps at intersections leaves no opportunity for safe correction. The safest response is restraint: slow down, create space, and anticipate limited movement.

When it comes to heavy vehicles, CTU stresses that risk is often misunderstood. Collisions are not always the result of speeding, although it’s a factor, there are many unrealistic expectations about how trucks and buses operate. A heavy vehicle cannot stop suddenly. It cannot brake on demand like a passenger car. Drivers must first slow, downshift through gears, and manage the vehicle’s weight and momentum. Even at legal speeds, stopping distances are long and unforgiving. This misunderstanding also affects many pedestrians, who do not realise that one cannot take a chance that a vehicle can or will stop in time for you to cross a road.

Visibility is another critical issue. Many road users, including taxis and private cars, drive far too close to trucks, particularly behind them. In these positions, smaller vehicles often sit in blind spots where they are simply not visible to the truck driver. Trucks are high, long and wide, with limited rear and side visibility. If a driver cannot see the truck’s mirrors, the truck driver cannot see them.

This is why following distance matters more behind a bus or truck than behind any other vehicle. A longer following distance gives you visibility, reaction time and options. It allows you to see hazards ahead of the vehicle, avoids blind spots, and gives the bus or truck driver space to brake or manoeuvre without sudden pressure from behind.

A greater following distance also makes overtaking safer. When you hang back, you create the space needed to assess conditions properly and build up to the correct speed before overtaking. Tailgating a large bus or truck forces rushed decisions, limits visibility of oncoming traffic, and often leads to dangerous overtaking attempts with no margin for escape.

Professional drivers carry an even greater responsibility. Trucks carry loads capable of devastating smaller vehicles on impact. Safe following distances, disciplined lane use, cautious overtaking and realistic journey times are not operational inconveniences, they are non-negotiable safety obligations.

In moments of potential head-on conflict, restraint saves lives. Reducing speed immediately and moving left, as far as safely possible, gives both vehicles the greatest chance of avoiding impact. Accelerating or swerving aggressively in the hope that the other driver will yield only increases risk and removes options.

South Africa does not lack road rules. As CTU continues to stress, SA lacks consistent obedience Every ignored line, every unsafe overtake, every decision to rush rather than wait contributes to a road safety landscape that places lives at unnecessary risk.

Road safety is not about confidence or bravado. It is about discipline, awareness and respect – for the rules, for fellow road users, and for the reality that every journey shared carries shared responsibility.