New
report shows traffic fatalities are up in the Americas, primarily among
motorcyclists. To reverse the trend, PAHO/WHO recommends adoption and
enforcement of laws related to five key risk factors: speed, drinking and
driving, and the use of motorcycle helmets, seatbelts and child restraints.
Washington,
D.C. (PAHO/WHO) – Deaths from road
traffic injuries, mainly among motorcyclists, increased by 3% in the Americas
between 2010 and 2013, according to the new
Report on Road Safety in the
Region of the Americas, published by the Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO), Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO). To reverse this
trend, PAHO is urging countries to strengthen their road safety legislation and
enforcement.
The
new report provides a snapshot of the road safety situation in 31 countries and
territories of the Western Hemisphere, based on the latest available data. It
shows that more than 154,000 people died as a result of traffic-related
injuries in the Americas in 2013. This represents nearly 12% of all
traffic-related deaths at the global level, where traffic injuries are
the leading cause of death among young people ages 15 to 29, particularly
among men (73%).
“Road
traffic crashes continue to cause too many preventable injuries and deaths and
place a heavy load on healthcare services,” said PAHO Director Carissa F.
Etienne. “Strong and sustained enforcement of effective laws and public
awareness campaigns are vital to reduce this burden.”
Road
safety laws improve road user behavior and reduce road traffic crashes,
injuries and deaths. The report says that countries have generally not done
enough to implement the five key measures that are known to be most effective:
maximum speed limits of 50 km/h in urban areas, required seat-belt use for all
vehicle occupants, blood alcohol limits of no more than 0.05g/dl for drivers,
mandated helmet use for all motorcycle riders, and required use of child
restraints in vehicles.
Highlights
from the report include:
-
29 countries and territories of the Americas have some
type of national seat-belt law, but only 19 have legislation requiring
seat-belt use for all vehicle occupants;
-
6 countries have national laws on driving under the
influence that set maximum blood alcohol concentration at 0.05g/dl or less
for adult drivers and 0.02 g/dl or less for young or novice drivers;
-
17 countries and territories have national laws that
set a maximum speed of 50 km/h in urban areas, and 13 have legislation
allowing local authorities to reduce speed limits even further. Only 5
countries have laws meeting both those criteria, which is considered a
best practice;
-
10 countries and territories have national laws
requiring helmet use for drivers and passengers on all types of
motorcycles and for all engine types while also requiring the helmet to be
properly fastened and to meet international safety standards;
-
13 countries and territories have national
child-restraint legislation on the books for children in all types of
vehicles, based on age, height or weight, and restricting children from
sitting in the front seat, based on age or height.
Almost
half of all road deaths in the Americas are among those users with the least
protection: motorcyclists (who represent 20% of traffic deaths), pedestrians
(22%) and cyclists (3%).
Deaths
among motorcyclists grew the most among traffic fatalities. The report finds
that motorcycle deaths rose from 15% to 20% of all road deaths between 2010 and
2013. However, when examined by subregion, nearly half (47%) of traffic-related
deaths in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean (Cuba and the Dominican Republic)
involved motorcyclists. This increase is associated with the hemisphere’s
expanding motorcycle fleet, which almost doubled from 2007 to 2013, rising from
6% to 11% of all motor vehicles.
“Rapid
urbanization, the need to get around quickly, and improved economic growth in
some countries have contributed to the fact that people who previously walked
now ride a motorcycle,” said Eugenia Rodrigues, PAHO’s Regional Advisor on Road
Safety. “Having a safe, affordable and efficient public transportation system
and good infrastructure, with sidewalks, traffic lights, footpaths, and
crossings, is key to protect health and also to increase people’s physical
activity.”
The
Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011–2020) calls on countries to implement
internationally identified measures to make their roads safer. PAHO monitors
progress through its regional report, while WHO monitors the global situation
through its Global Status Report on Road Safety series.
In
September 2015, heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly
adopted the historic Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which includes a
target (3.6) to halve the global number of deaths and injuries from road
traffic crashes by 2020.
“While
progress has been achieved in recent years, much more needs to be done to
galvanize urgent action and to save more lives,” noted Etienne.
PAHO/WHO works with the countries of the Americas to
move towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals on road safety and to
implement its Plan of Action on Road Safety (2012-2017) and the commitments of
the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. In this regard, PAHO/WHO works
to strengthen the role of the health sector in road safety, prevent road
traffic injuries, give technical assistance for adopting and implementing good
traffic laws, and advise on the adoption of road safety strategies that can
save lives.
Key
facts about road safety*
-
Higher traffic speeds increase the likelihood of
crashes as well as the severity of injuries, especially for pedestrians,
cyclists and motorcyclists. An adult pedestrian has less than a 20% chance
of dying if struck by a car moving at less than 50 km/h but nearly a 60%
risk of dying if hit at 80 km/h.
-
Driving under the influence of
alcohol
increases the likelihood of road traffic crash as well as death or serious
injury.
-
Wearing a motorcycle helmet can reduce the risk
of death by nearly 40% and the risk of severe injury by approximately 70%.
-
Wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of death
among drivers and front-seat passengers by 45–50%, and the risk of minor
and serious injuries by 20% and 45%, respectively. For rear-seat
passengers, seatbelts reduce fatal and serious injuries by 25% and minor
injuries by up to 75%.
-
Child restraints reduce the likelihood of death in
a crash by approximately 90% among infants and between 54% and 80% among
young children. Additionally, children are safer seated in the rear of a
vehicle than in the front.
*
Global status report on road safety 2015 (WHO)