Road crashes are a major killer world-wide Since the invention of the motor vehicle over a century ago, it is estimated that about 30 million people have been killed in road crashes. A recent review of road deaths world-wide estimated that between 750,000 and 880,000 lives were lost in road crashes in 1999, a conservative estimate compared with earlier WHO figures. WHO data estimated that, in 1998, more children in Africa died from road crashes than from HIV and more young adults (aged between 15 and 44 years) were killed by road crashes than by malaria. Click here for the WHO tables ranking the leading causes of death by region. They are a leading cause of premature mortality Road crashes affect the mobile population, i.e. the young and middle aged, with approximately 67 percent of all road deaths occurring to those under 45 years of age. Typically only 10 percent of road deaths occur to people who are retired and nearing the end of their natural life span. WHO has forecast that, by the year 2020, road crashes will be the second most common cause of premature death in the world (out of a list of about 120 different causes). The percentage of children under 15 years of age killed in road crashes in developing countries is currently almost three times higher than that for the highly motorised countries (Ghee & Astrop, 1997; WHO World Health Report 1999 Database) References GHEE C and A ASTROP (1997). Socio-economic aspects of road accidents in developing countries. TRL Report 247. TRL Ltd, Crowthorne. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (1999). Injury: a leading cause of the global burden of disease. WHO, Geneva. Developing and transitional countries suffer disproportionately The vast majority of road deaths occur in developing and transitional countries, which cumulatively account for over 85 percent of all road deaths. Only one in every 6 road deaths occurs in industrialised countries while 44 percent of road deaths occur in the Asia/Pacific region alone. The burden is even more disproportionate when vehicle ownership is considered. Developing and transitional countries own a mere 40 percent of the world's motor vehicles, but account for 86 percent of its road fatalities. Africa and the Middle East/North Africa region only owns about 3 percent of the world's vehicles, but accounts for almost three times the percentage of road deaths. Click here for a table showing the relative share of road deaths, motor vehicles and population by region. The situation is worsening in developing and transitional countries Trend data shows that the total number of people killed in road crashes in the developing world continues to increase, whereas in highly motorised countries there has been a steady decrease over the last 15 years. For example, between 1987-95 road deaths rose by the following amounts: Asia-Pacific, 40 percent; Africa, by 26 percent (excluding South Africa, where deaths began to decline); Middle East/North Africa by, 36 percent (Saudi Arabia rose by 58%); Latin America, by almost 100 percent in some countries. During the same period, road deaths fell by about 10 percent on average, in highly motorised countries. Estimates indicate that, over the next ten to twenty years, the number of people dying annually in road crashes may rise to 1 million and 1.3 million respectively, with the increase occurring in developing and transitional countries. Click here for a graph showing the road fatality trends over the past few decades. (Download 4) Road deaths are furthermore only the tip of the road casualty "iceberg". It is conservatively estimated that between 30 and 45 injuries occur for every road death. Many will involve life long disability and due to their ongoing care and support requirements, will incur a lifetime cost greater than a road death. Opportunities for integrating and improving road safety are being missed Many developing and transitional countries are experiencing rapid motorization and are undertaking major highway rehabilitation and modernisation programmes. Too often, opportunities to integrate road safety at an early stage in these projects are being missed. The lessons learned by industrialised countries are not being shared with developing and transitional countries. Click here for an example of how traffic safety can be incorporated into a road sector development programme. Click here for more information on the scale of the problem, including background statistics.