GLOBAL STATUS REPORT ON ROAD SAFETY 2013

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SUPPORTING A DECADE OF ACTION

WHO

GLOBAL STATUS REPORT ON ROAD SAFETY 2013SUPPORTING A DECADE OF ACTION

WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:

Global status report on road safety 2013: supporting a decade of action.

1.Accidents, Traffic - statistics and numerical data. 2.Accidents, Traffic - trends. 3.Wounds and injuries - epidemiology. 4.Safety. 5.Data collection. 6.Programme evaluation. I.World Health Organization.

ISBN 978 92 4 156456 4 (NLM classification: WA 275)

© World Health Organization 2013

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CONTENTS

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1The Decade of Action for Road Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1The purpose of this report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Section 1. The current state of global road safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Many countries have successfully reduced the number of deaths on their roads, while deaths are increasing in others . . . . . . . . 4Middle-income countries are hardest hit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4The African Region has the highest road traffic fatality rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Half of all road traffic deaths are among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Almost 60% of road traffic deaths are among 15–44 year olds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Non-fatal crash injuries are poorly documented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Harmonizing data collection on road traffic deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Section 2. New road safety laws: progress to date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Reducing speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Progress to reduce excessive speed has stalled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Reducing urban speeds protects pedestrians and cyclists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Speed limits need stronger enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Reducing drinking and driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Drink–drive laws should be based on blood alcohol concentration levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Strong drink–drive laws protect almost 70% of world’s population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16More stringent drink–drive laws for high-risk drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Drink–drive laws need stronger enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Almost half of all countries lack of data on alcohol-related road traffic deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Increasing motorcycle helmet use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Head injuries among motorcyclists are a growing concern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18More effort is needed to promote helmet standards and quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Data on helmet use is weak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Increasing seat-belt use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Progress has been made in tightening up seat-belt laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Enforcing seat-belt laws needs more emphasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Only half of countries collect seat-belt wearing data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Increasing the use of child restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25More countries need to adopt child restraint use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Encouraging child restraint use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Lead agencies are vital to developing a national road safety strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Involving multiple sectors in national road safety efforts is critical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27National road safety strategies should include targets to minimize injuries, deaths and key risk factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Section 3. Transport policies neglect pedestrians and cyclists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Governments need to make walking and cycling safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Safer roads reduce crash likelihood and severity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Action is needed to make vehicles safer for non-car road users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Public transport can make mobility safer and reduce congestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Explanatory notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Methodology, data collection and validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Country profile explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Estimating global road traffic deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Country Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Statistical Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Preface

Progress is being made to make the world’s roads safer, but this critical work must be intensified and accelerated.

In 2010 the governments of the world declared 2011–2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety. They invited the World Health Organization to prepare this report as a baseline to assess the state of global road safety at the onset of the Decade, and to be able to monitor progress over the period of the Decade. The unanimous support for this Decade of Action from Member States indicates a growing awareness that the devastating scale of road traffic injuries is a global public health and development concern.

This report shows that 1.24 million people were killed on the world’s roads in 2010. This is unacceptably high. Road traffic injuries take an enormous toll on individuals and communities as well as on national economies. Middle-income countries, which are motorizing rapidly, are the hardest hit.

There is a sound body of scientific evidence behind road safety interventions. Adopting and enforcing legislation relating to important risk factors – speed, drink–driving, motorcycle helmets, seat-belts and child restraints – has been shown to lead to reductions in road traffic injuries. This report illustrates some of the progress made in a number of countries to address these risk factors since publication of the first Global status report on road safety (2009). Since 2008, 35 countries have passed new laws or amended existing legislation covering one or more of these risk factors. Nevertheless, in many countries these laws are either not comprehensive in scope or are lacking altogether. Governments must do more to ensure that their national road safety laws meet best practice, and do more to enforce these laws.

Road safety was recognized in global environmental policy deliberations at the recent Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development. A clear link was made between road safety and sustainable development. Encouraging sustainable transport policy must include making non-motorized forms of transport accessible and safe: this report shows that 27% of global road traffic deaths are among pedestrians and cyclists. To date, these road users have been neglected in transport and planning policy. The world must now increase its focus on making walking and cycling safer, and protecting these road users from high-speed traffic.

The benefits of such a move will be far greater than purely the health benefits of reduced road traffic injuries. Benefits will include reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, reductions in traffic congestion, and the health outcomes that come from increased physical activity.

This report shows that, with sufficient political will, road traffic deaths can be averted. In supporting the Decade of Action for Road Safety, governments around the world have shown their political commitment to make the world’s roads safer. The Decade offers a unique platform upon which to address this issue. The challenge is to keep this pledge and enhance the pace of change. Only then can the goal of the Decade of Action for Road Safety be met.

Dr Margaret ChanDirector-GeneralWorld Health Organization

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Acknowledgements The Global status report on road safety 2013 benefited from the contributions of a number of WHO staff:

Tami Toroyan coordinated and wrote the report, with data management and statistical analysis conducted by Kacem Iaych; Margie Peden provided strategic and technical oversight; data collection was facilitated by WHO Representatives and staff at country level; at regional level, trainings, data collection and validation were carried out by: Martial Missimikim and Martin Ekeke Monono (Africa); Astrid Arca, Alessandra Senisse Pajares and Eugênia Rodrigues (the Americas); Rania Saad, Hala Sakr and Hala Youssef (Eastern Mediterranean); Francesco Mitis and Dinesh Sethi (Europe); Rania Saad and Chamaiparn Santikarn (South-East Asia); and Krishnan Rajam, Mayet Darang and Xiangdong Wang (Western Pacific). Other WHO staff who contributed to the development and production of the report include Ala Alwan, Nicholas Banatvala, Oleg Chestnov, Manjul Joshipura, Doris Ma Fat, Evelyn Murphy, Etienne Krug, Jon Passmore, Pascale Lanvers-Casasola, Colin Mathers, Florence Rusciano and Jelica Vesic.

Country level data could not have been obtained without the invaluable input of:• theNationalDataCoordinators(seeTableA1intheStatisticalAnnex);• allrespondentsandattendeesoftheconsensusmeetingsincountries;• governmentofficialswhoprovidedclearanceoftheinformationforinclusionintheReport.

WHO also wishes to thank the following contributors whose expertise made this document possible:• JenniferEllis,KellyHenningandKellyLarsonfromBloombergPhilanthropies;• AdnanHyder,OliveKobusingye,JunaidRazzakandDavidWard,whoprovidedexpertadviceandreviewcomments;• ClaudiaAdriazola-Steil,AbdulgafoorBachani,MadhavPai,NagiShafik,DavidWard,EstiWidiastuti,

Gde Yogadhita for providing information for boxes; • AlisonHarveyforpreparingandcheckingcountryprofiles;• AngelaBurtonwhoeditedandproofreadthereport;• DrewBlakemanforvaluableeditorialinput;• GraphicdesignersfromL’IVComSàrlwhoproducedthedesignandlayout.

Finally the World Health Organization wishes to thank Bloomberg Philanthropies for its generous financial support for the development and publication of this report.

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