A 2024 World Health Organization report said road deaths had decreased globally but increased in Africa, which is home to some 1.5 billion people. Around 40% of road deaths in Africa are pedestrians — twice as many as the global average — and the figure is almost 50% in some African countries. Extra dangerous timesThe December to January holiday period is a notoriously dangerous time when large numbers of people travel on strained road systems. Authorities in South Africa, which has one of the continent's better road systems, reported this month that they had seen a welcome but small decrease in their holiday season road deaths. But for the period Dec. 1, 2025, to Jan. 11, 2026, Africa's most advanced economy still recorded 1,427 road deaths at an average of more than 30 a day.