Pascal Nteziyaremye, a recent doctoral graduate in civil engineering, found crashes involving pedestrians were more likely where there were traffic circles, industrial areas and intersections with at least four approaches.Nteziyaremye, a transport engineer at GoMetro, said pedestrians were killed most often in densely populated, economically disadvantaged parts of southeastern Cape Town.
The lingering effects of apartheid-era policies had"inevitably affected the way people travel as well as the extent to which pedestrian safety was prioritised", he said."Fewer people own cars in these poorer communities and residents rely solely on walking and public transport," he said. "Poorer areas also lack adequate road infrastructure, work and economic opportunities, social services and recreational facilities."
With few safe places to run and roam, children often play in the streets, and Nteziyaremye’s research found that 244 such children were hit by vehicles.