Global Road Safety: Fighting Road Kill

The WHO has a plan to make the world’s roads less lethal

Some mortal threats grab all the attention. Malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and cancer win over rock stars to the cause and provoke grown-ups to wear plastic bracelets. At the other end of the spectrum, past meningitis and diarrheal disease, lies road safety – which has been largely neglected on the global stage. But not for a lack of urgency. Globally, road accidents were the ninth leading cause of death in 2004. By 2030 they could be the fifth, above HIV/AIDS and lung cancer.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is now trying to make roads less deadly. On May 11th it launched a “decade of road safety”, with a plan to save 5m lives and prevent 50m serious injuries by 2020. Officials from Vietnam to Mexico declared themselves determined to prevent traffic deaths. A new road-safety “tag” even graced landmarks in New York, London and Rio de Janeiro.

Yet changing habits on the road will not be easy. Many Europeans like driving fast. In India lanes exist in theory only; motorists make suicidal attempts to overtake and appear to believe their horns confer protection. A survey of 178 countries by the WHO, published in 2009, provides a glimpse of the problem – particularly in the developing world. Poor and middle-income countries account for more than 90% of road deaths, but just 48% of the world’s registered vehicles. As economies have surged, so has car use. Road rules and other safety measures have yet to catch up.

Many countries lack basic safety rules that could, the WHO argues, reduce the number of accidents. Easy steps, such as requiring the use of seat belts and setting sensible speed limits, can dramatically reduce the risk of traffic-death. Yet only 38% of poor countries ask both front- and back-seat passengers to wear seat belts. Less than one-third of countries meet simple criteria for reducing speed on city roads.

Even when rules do exist, they are seldom enforced. A country may ban drink-driving, for example, but have no breathalysers. Safety features common in the rich world, such as car seats for infants, are rarities elsewhere. And roads in poor countries are often a danger to pedestrians and cyclists: they account for fewer than 25% of road-deaths in America, but the figure in Thailand is over 80%.

The WHO’s plan includes guidelines for improving emergency services, designing roads and enforcing safety rules. These changes could cost $200m each year for the next decade. A $125m gift in 2009 from Michael Bloomberg, New York’s billionaire mayor, will help. But more is needed. The WHO thinks road crashes cost most countries between 1% and 3% of GNP. Traffic safety might not be the most thrilling investment. But it is a sound one.

全球道路安全：向道路殺手宣戰(zhàn)

世界衛(wèi)生組織已經(jīng)制訂了一個計劃，旨在減少道路死亡

一些致命的威脅引起了所有的關(guān)注。營養(yǎng)不良，艾滋病和癌癥這些比搖滾歌星能引起青少年的關(guān)注。另一極端的說法就是，道路安全與腦膜炎和腹瀉(造成的傷害)相當(dāng)——這在世界范圍內(nèi)很大程度上被忽略了。這并不是說這不緊急。就全球來看，道路交通事故在2004年是死亡原因中位列第九。到2020年這可能會位列第五，排列艾滋病和肺癌之前。

世界衛(wèi)生組織現(xiàn)在正在試圖減少交通事故的死亡。5月11日，世衛(wèi)組織發(fā)起了“道路安全十年”行動，并且計劃到2020年，挽救500萬生命，避免5000萬人受重傷。來自越南以及墨西哥的官員表示，他們會全力防止交通死亡。甚至在紐約，倫敦，里約熱內(nèi)盧就有一個新的道路安全“標(biāo)簽”地標(biāo)。

不過，要想改變在道路上的習(xí)慣并不容易。許多歐洲人喜歡開快車。在印度，就沒有“道路”的概念;駕車的人都是自殺式地超車，并且認為鳴笛能夠確保他們的安全。世衛(wèi)組織在2009年發(fā)布的關(guān)于178個國家的報告為這個問題提供了參考——尤其是對于發(fā)展中國家。貧窮和中等收入國家的死亡人數(shù)占到了總交通事故死亡人數(shù)的90%，而這其中僅僅的注冊交通工具數(shù)量僅占世界的48%。隨著經(jīng)濟的快速增長，汽車也將普及。道路交通規(guī)則和其他的安全措施卻沒有跟上。

世衛(wèi)組織認為，許多國家都缺乏基本的安全規(guī)則，而這些規(guī)則能減少事故的發(fā)生。像一些要求使用安全帶和合理限制車速等簡單措施都能夠大大減少交通死亡。不過僅38%的貧窮國家要求全體乘客佩帶安全帶。不到三分之一的國家滿足簡單的城市道路減速標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

另外就是，即使這些規(guī)則存在，這些國家也很少云執(zhí)行。例如，某些國家可能會禁止酒后駕車，但它并沒有呼氣酒精測試器。在富裕的國家，安全措施非常普遍，例如這里有嬰兒汽車座椅，而在其他地方則很少見。另外，窮國的道路對于那些步行者和騎自行車的人來說，通常是比較危險的：在美國這些人的死亡不到道路死亡人數(shù)的25%，而在泰國，則占到80%以上。

世衛(wèi)組織的計劃包括了提高緊急服務(wù)，道路設(shè)計和執(zhí)行道路規(guī)則的指導(dǎo)綱要。實現(xiàn)這些改變要在未來的十年里每年耗費2億美元。2009年，來自紐約億萬富翁的市長邁克爾·彭博(Michael Bloomberg)先生為此提供了1.25美元的幫助。不過這還不夠。世衛(wèi)組織認為，在大多數(shù)國家，道路交通事故的造成的損失占到國民生產(chǎn)總值的1% 到 3%。交通安全或許并不是最讓人興奮的投資。不過它卻是一個合理的投資。

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