South Africa Tops Global Drunk Driving List

This is one list that South Africans would rather not be number one on – The Worst Countries in the World for Drunk Driving. SA tops the list out of 95 countries around the world that record this statistic.

According to statistical research published by statistics portal Statista – and based on findings from WHO – over 58 percent of road accident deaths in SA last year involved alcohol… which goes to show that old saying “one for the road” really is not cool. Friends do not let friends drive drunk.

South Africa’s stat is far ahead of the next worst country, Canada, where 34 percent of road deaths involve alcohol.

Writing for Statista, Niall McCarthy says: “South Africa is one of the most dangerous countries worldwide for road accidents with 25.1 deaths per 100,000 people every year according to the WHO’s Global Status report on Road Safety for 2015.

“A shocking 6 out of every 10 fatalities on the country’s roads are caused by alcohol impairment.”

There may be some countries with worse drunk driving which are not featured on this list. WHO says that only 95 countries have any data on the proportion of road traffic deaths attributable to alcohol – ranging from less than 1 percent of deaths in Costa Rica and Oman, up South Africa’s 58 percent. And, according to WHO, only 53 countries test all drivers who die in a crash for alcohol use.

You will find more statistics at Statista

Read the full article on Statista here. 

Read WHO’s report on Road Safety around the world here.