10 facts on global road safety
Updated July 2017
About 1.3 million people die each year on the world's roads and between 20 and 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries. Road traffic crashes are a major cause of death among all age groups and the leading cause of death among those aged 15–29 years.
This fact file presents data from WHO's most recent Global health estimates and the Global status report on road safety, published in 2015. The reports show that road traffic injuries remain an important public health problem. To reduce the number of road traffic deaths and injuries, a holistic framework such as the Safe System approach needs to be adopted to ensure a safe transport system for all road users.
WHO/T. Pietrasik
Fact 1: Road traffic injuries are a global public health problem
Every year, there are approximately 1.3 million road traffic deaths worldwide. 93% of these road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries which only have 54% of the world’s registered vehicles.
WHO/S. Volkov
Fact 2: Vulnerable road users account for half of all road traffic deaths globally
Pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of motorized 2- and 3-wheelers and their passengers are collectively known as "vulnerable road users" and account for half of all road traffic deaths around the world. A higher proportion of vulnerable road users die in low-income countries than in high-income countries.
Master Media/P. Polurotov
Fact 3: Controlling speed reduces road traffic injuries
As average speed increases, so too does the likelihood of having a road traffic crash and the severity of the consequences should a crash occur. An increase of 1 km/h in mean vehicle speed results in an increase of 3% in the incidence of crashes resulting in injury and an increase of 4–5% in the incidence of fatal crashes.Only 47 countries, representing 13% of the world’s population, have laws that meet best practice on urban speed. This means having a national urban maximum speed limit of no more than 50 km/h and allowing local authorities to modify this limit when necessary, to ensure safe speeds locally.
WHO/C. Doan
Fact 4: Drinking alcohol and driving increases the risk of a crash
Drinking and driving increases the risk of a crash dramatically above a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 g/dl. WHO recommends a BAC of ≤0.05 g/dl for the general driving population, and a limit of ≤ 0.02 g/dl for young and novice drivers. Only 34 countries, representing 29% of the world’s population, have national drink–driving laws that meet best practice.
WHO/D. Rodriguez
Fact 5: Wearing a good-quality helmet can reduce the risk of death from a road traffic crash
Wearing a good-quality helmet can reduce the risk of death by 40% and severe injury by approximately 70%. Only 44 countries, representing 17% of the world’s population, have motorcycle helmet laws that meet best practice: this means making sure the law applies to all drivers and passengers, all roads and engine types, requires the helmet to be fastened and makes reference to a particular helmet standard.
WHO/I. Chemichkin
Fact 6: Wearing a seat-belt reduces the risk of death among front-seat and rear-seat passengers
Wearing a seat-belt can reduce fatal and non-fatal injuries among front seat occupants by 45-50% and rear-seat car occupants by 25–75%. 105 countries, representing 67% of the world’s population, have seat-belt laws that cover both front and rear seat occupants, in line with best practice.
WHO
Fact 7: The use of appropriate child restraints considerably reduces the risk of serious injury to children
Placing children in child restraints reduces the risk of serious injury by up to 80% compared to children restrained only by seat-belts. Further, children in booster seats have a 77% reduced risk of being injured in a crash compared to unrestrained children. Only 53 countries, representing 17% of the world’s population, have a child restraint law that meets best practice. Best practice laws apply restrictions on children sitting in the front seat, and require that the restraints children use are appropriate for their age/height/weight.
WHO/S. Volkov
Fact 8: Access to timely and effective emergency care after road traffic crashes saves lives and reduces disability among the injured
Key solutions for emergency care system development include establishing universal access numbers linked to integrated prehospital and facility-based emergency care services, training all frontline providers in basic emergency care, and promoting lay first responder training where formal systems are limited.
WHO/H. Ruiz
Fact 9: Vehicles sold in 80% of all countries worldwide fail to meet basic safety standards
The safety of vehicles plays a critical role both in averting crashes and reducing the likelihood of serious injury in the event of a crash. The United Nations World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is the primary global body responsible for the development of international motor vehicle standards. Among the most important vehicle safety standards promoted through the World Forum are 7 key regulations that help ensure safe vehicles. However, to date only 40 countries have adopted all 7 regulations, and 35 of these are high-income countries.
WHO