A few weeks ago, the report entitledGlobal status report on road safety 2023 prepared by the World Health Organization was published. According to the study, during the year 2021 there were 1.19 million traffic fatalities worldwide, which is a 5% drop compared to 2010, when there were 1.25 million deaths.

It is worth noting that this slight reduction in road fatalities occurred despite the fact that the global vehicle fleet more than doubled, the road network is undergoing significant expansion and the world’s population increased by more than one billion people during these years.

According to the document, it would show that all efforts to improve road safety are still too little, in accordance with the objectives of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, which plans to reduce fatalities by half by the year 2030.

Today, road traffic injuries and fatalities remain a major global challenge to the health and development of citizens. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among children and young people between 5 and 29 years of age, and two-thirds of deaths occur among people of working age, from 18 to 59 years, causing enormous health, social and economic costs to society as a whole.

The report also stresses that road accident victims are often the weakest on the road, as more than half of those killed are pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists. Occupants of four-wheeled vehicles account for one-third of fatalities, and vehicles with more than 10 people, heavy goods vehicles and goods vehicles account for one-fifth of all traffic fatalities. Also noteworthy is the increase in deaths in small electric vehicles, which account for 3% of deaths.

In terms of infrastructure, almost 80% of all roads assessed do not meet a minimum 3-star rating for pedestrian safety and only 0.2% of these roads have bicycle-friendly lanes.

Another aspect highlighted by the World Health Organization report is that 90% of accident deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, while low-income people in these countries continue to face the highest risk of road death.

Globally, 28% of all fatalities occur in the Southeast Asia region, 25% in the Western Pacific region, 19% in Africa, 12% in the Americas, 11% in the Eastern Mediterranean region and 5% in Europe.

Europe is the area with the largest drop in road fatalities since 2010, down 36%, followed by the Western Pacific area, down 16%.

According to WHO good practice legislation, enforcement of measures on the five major risk factors has been carried out mainly in Europe and they are: speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, helmet use on motorcycles, seatbelts and child restraint systems.

However, many countries around the world are not implementing measures that put people and safety at the core of mobility systems, but instead design and build mobility systems with the motor vehicle at the centre, not for people, nor with safety as the primary concern.

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