Your suspicion was correct: VW Polo drivers are the worst, RTMC study confirms

Volkswagen Polo, Toyota Hilux and Toyota Quantum are the vehicle models involved the most in fatal crashes and account for the highest number of  speed infringement fines issued.

This is the finding of a study conducted by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).

A study titled SA Fatal Crashes in Context which was published last month analysed data from October 1 2017 to June 30 2021, a period of almost four years.

It also analysed Aarto speed infringement data from January 1 2019 to June 20 2021, a period of almost three years.

“A total of 48,330 vehicles were involved in 37,583 fatal crashes with 45,232 deaths during the period, according to data on the RTMC’s national crash data management system.

“An analysis of the top 20 vehicle models involved in fatal crashes showed that the Volkswagen Polo, Toyota Hilux and Toyota Quantum were involved in 43.2% of fatal crashes.

“The Volkswagen Polo came out on top, with a contribution of 16.7% of all fatal crashes, confirming what many South Africans have long suspected.

“It was followed closely by the Toyota Hilux which was involved in 14.2% of fatal crashes and the Toyota Quantum with a recorded 12.2% involvement in fatal crashes,” said Simon Zwane, RTMC spokesperson.

These three vehicle models also accounted for the highest number of Aarto speed infringement fines issued by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, Tshwane Metro Police Department, the Gauteng department of community safety, and the national traffic police.

A total of 35% of speed infringement fines were issued to these three vehicle models in the period under review even though they constituted 33% of the total vehicle population.

The high number of speed infringements committed by public transport type of vehicles such as the Toyota Quantum was unacceptable and needed to be addressed, he said.

“Though it is expected that public transport vehicles will be involved in crashes because they are on the road on a semi full-time basis and travel more kilometres compared to other vehicle models, their contribution to fatalities remains unacceptably high considering that they constitute a mere 3.3% of the total vehicle population.”

TimesLIVE