Alarm has been raised about the high number of youth dying in road crashes in South Africa.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has described it as an epidemic. Data shows that more than 8500 young people lost their lives over a three-year period. This is between 2019 and 2021.

The most affected age group is the 30 to 34. Gauteng recorded the highest number of youth road fatalities followed by KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

The RTMC’s CEO advocate Makhosini Msibi has made a clarion call to young people to prioritise road safety. It’s estimated that fatal crashes last year cost the economy almost R190 billion.