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Never mind the roads, what about the rules?
WHO photo
THE World Health Organisation does not say where in Africa the scene above was photographed but it does serves to illustrate how poor infrastructure heightens the international road toll.
WHO has just published the first global assessment of road safety and has found that half the 1.27 million people who die on the roads each year are pedestrians, motorbike riders or cyclists. More than 90% of those fatalities occur in low and middle-income countries and invariably a critical factor is a lack of paved roads and separate footpaths.
But WHO is not just urging the world to build more infrastructure. It also wants low and middle-income countries to at least introduce road safety laws. “We found that in many countries, the laws necessary to protect people are either not in place or are not comprehensive,” says WHO’s director-general, Dr Margaret Chan. “Even when there is adequate legislation, most countries report that their enforcement is low.”
The WHO study found that less than a third of the 178 countries surveyed had laws to reduce speeds in urban areas, less than half had 0.05 blood alcohol limits to reduce drink-driving, and while 90% of countries had helmet laws only 40% had laws that covered both rider and passenger. Dr Chan says if there is not greater effort to promote road safety then on present trends the world’s road toll could top 2.4 million annually by 2030.
WHO has also warned that in high-income countries like Australia where the road toll is now relatively low, that there is no room for complacency. Even the world’s top performers have “stagnated” in creating a truly safe road transport system, says WHO director, Dr Etienne Krug.
