WHO’s Global status report on road safety 2015
19 October 2015 – Geneva | “More than 1.2 million people die each year on the world’s roads, making road traffic injuries a leading cause of death globally. Most of these deaths are in low – and middle – income countries where rapid economic growth has been accompanied by increased motorization and road traffic injuries”, the World Health Organization (WHO) affirms in the report Global status report on road safety 2015. The report is the third in its series and is the official monitoring tool of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. The publication comprises a narrative text combining evidence, facts and best practices with conclusions drawn following the analysis of the data collected for 180 countries. The report follows the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which includes an ambitious road safety target and precedes the 2nd Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety that will be held in Brasilia, Brazil, 18-19 November 2015.
The WHO report highlights that road users around the world are unequally protected: Europe has the lowest death rates per capita; Africa the highest. According to WHO, countries that have had the most success in reducing the number of road traffic deaths have achieved this by improving legislation, enforcement, and making roads and vehicles safer: United States, Indonesia and Nigeria are among countries failing to apply best practices. The report also found that some vehicles sold in 80 per cent of all countries worldwide fail to meet basic safety standards.
The report says the number of road traffic deaths is stabilizing even though the number of motor vehicles worldwide has increased rapidly: “In the last three years, 79 countries have seen a decrease in the absolute number of fatalities while 68 countries have seen an increase…Cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians are particularly vulnerable, accounting for 49 percent of fatalities”.