FIGURE 1: ROAD TRAFFIC INJURY MORTALITY RATES (PER 100 000 POPULATION), 2002

FIGURE 1: ROAD TRAFFIC INJURY MORTALITY RATES
(PER 100 000 POPULATION), 2002


Click over the picture to enlarge

Source: World Report on road traffic injury prevention, 2004

Worldwide, more than half of road traffic casualties
are in the 15-44 age group, the key wage earning and
child raising age group. In Kenya, for example, more
than 75% of road traffic casualties are amongst economically
active young adults4. The loss of the main
wage earner and head of household due to death or
disability can be disastrous, leading to lower living
standards and poverty, in addition to the human cost
of bereavement.
A recent study in Bangladesh and India examined the
direct economic impact of road traffic crashes resulting
in death or serious injury on individual urban and
rural households (Box 1). The study shows that road
deaths often act as a trigger for poverty. The majority
of households suffering a road death see a decline in
household income after the crash. For those families
in a precarious economic position, a road crash can
be the unexpected event that topples them below the
poverty line.
Road traffic crashes can also disproportionately affect
the poorest groups in society. In low and middle
income countries poor people are usually vulnerable
road users (pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists).
They are at particular risk from the greater variety and
intensity of traffic mix and the lack of separation from
other road users. Slow moving and non motorised
modes have to share road space with fast moving vehicles,
leading to increased conflict and risk. In Kenya,
pedestrians and passengers in mass transportation
accounted for 80% of all fatalities5, and in Mumbai,
India, 78% of road fatalities were pedestrians6.
As vulnerable road users, children are at particular
risk. Children in low and middle income countries are
much more likely than children in high income countries
to be involved in a road crash. In South Africa,for example, more than 26 child deaths per 100,000
population occur as a result of road traffic crashes
compared to 1.7 per 100,000 population in the EU as
a whole7. Overall, 96% of child road fatalities occur in
low and middle income countries8. Peter Adamson,
senior adviser to UNICEF, warns of the consequences
of failing to act on road traffic injuries: “Without
being alarmist you can see that there will be millions
of young children killed on the roads of the world in
the years ahead. There is so much that could be done
by developing countries at their current stage of economic
development, and it could prevent so much
misery and tragedy. It would be outrageous if it were
allowed to continue in the years ahead”9.
Indeed, unless there is concerted action, the World
Bank expects global road fatalities to increase by
more than 65% between 2000 and 2020, with different
trends across regions of the world. Fatalities are
predicted to increase by more than 80% in low and
middle income countries, but to decrease by nearly
30% in high income countries (Figure 3), a widening
gap between the road safety rich and the road safety
poor.