Sweden has the safest roads in the world, with a goal to reduce road deaths with a ‘vision zero’ policy based on the principle that ‘puts people first. While Nordic countries approach road safety with utmost importance, south Asian countries suffer greatly due to ineffective implementation of road transport regulatory laws and policy, increasing vulnerability of road crashes, injury, and death. Rapid modernization, unplanned urban cities, rising motor vehicle market & ownership, zero pedestrian safety, and unhealthy road transport system in South Asia has led to a massive number of road traffic deaths and lost economic opportunities.
WHO Statistical data states 1.35 million People die each year on the world’s roads. Apart from dying on roads, million more sustain grievous injuries and live with adverse health outcomes. ‘#1 cause of death among those aged 5–29 years’. Road transport is integral for moving back and forth home, work, school, transfer of goods etc. and hence is essential for development. However, a poor plan and design of transport system poses a threat to these activities and lives involved. Socioeconomic impacts of road deaths, disability and injuries are higher in poor households adding to further medical and financial impoverishment.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages.
3.6: By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.
India and Bangladesh suffer with the highest number of potential life years lost to road crashes in south Asia. Hence, it is time to rethink sustainable solutions towards road safety, healthier transport choices and urban mobility in south Asia. Despite only 60% of motor vehicle ownership, 93% of road crashes and fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries. Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists are most prone to be a road accident victim.
“Road safety is not only a public health crisis – it is a critical development priority, with a strong impact on health, human capital, and economic growth”
– World Bank
The top reasons for increased fatalities are over speeding, drunk driving, under legal age drivers, poor vehicle safety, old vehicles, overloading, compromised helmet and seatbelt usage, distracted drivers (mobile usage), unsafe roads and infrastructure, compromised vision, absent child restraints, inadequate post-crash care and poor response time, traffic law regulatory insufficiency and poor enforcement of traffic laws.
Sweden is a global leader in road safety with 2.8 deaths per 100,000 individuals. The number of road traffic deaths decreased by 66% in a span of 30 years. Sweden leads the way through long-term, perennial planning of systematic, evidence-based approaches to intervention, supported by a strong institutional delivery including leadership, sustained investment and a focus on achieving ambitious road safety goals and targets across government, business and civil society.2
Road deaths are preventable but still happen every minute across the world’s roads. Economic losses due road crash and deaths have short term and long-term consequences on the victim and family. The socio-economic cost of direct fatal, grievous, minor injuries and taking into account intangible costs, total loss estimates to be around 3% of GDP globally. However, in low to middle-income countries the economic burden is higher, 5% of GDP is lost to road deaths. RTIs (Road traffic injuries) cause enormous death and Disability Adjusted Life Year’s loss in low-middle income countries and enormous economic loss in high-income countries.2 Also most victims are underprivileged and cannot afford expensive medical care for disability. High out of pocket health expenditure pushes them further into poverty. According to white paper experts, in the year 2005 the total economic loss of RTIs estimates depicted figures to be as high as 167,752.4 million United States Dollars.
Apart from loss of lives, household & workplace productivity loss due to direct road mishaps, vehicle pollution let out into the air also leads to increased medical costs due to lower respiratory tract infections and asthma among children and adults. The associated treatment costs and economic losses are another reason to look into sustainable solutions for the hazards associated with the global transport economy.
As cities and economies are growing, smart city and sustainable transport system concepts are on the rise looking for solutions to curb major killer issues. Sustainable Road Safety implies transport system aim at designing roads to reduce the severity of road crashes. Increased awareness and road safety data-led governments worldwide to road safety initiatives as a priority more so in the countries with higher road deaths. Sustainable transportation enhances growth in the economy by improving connectivity, accessibility, and road safety. Investments in safety measures for transport systems improve social equity, health, resilience, and overall productivity. Thus in most low-middle income countries, national and international collaborations have led to improvised enforcement of safety laws, increased investments, and development in transport systems to provide casualty-free roads.
“There is a phone call or a knock on the door that we all dread, in which we are told that a loved one has been killed or seriously injured in a road traffic crash.”
– Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
References
- Smeed, R. (1949). Some Statistical Aspects of Road Safety Research. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (General), 112(1), 1-34. doi:10.2307/2984177
- Dalal, K., Lin, Z., Gifford, M., & Svanström, L. (2013). Economics of global burden of road traffic injuries and their relationship with health system variables. International journal of preventive medicine, 4(12), 1442–1450.
- GLOBAL STATUS REPORT ON ROAD SAFETY 2018, WHO
- ROAD SAFETY IN THE SOUTH-EAST ASIA REGION 2015, WHO
- Gorea, Rakesh. (2016). Financial impact of road traffic accidents on the society:. International Journal of Ethics, Trauma & Victimology. 2. 10.18099/ijetv.v2i1.11129.
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries
- https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2018/en/
- https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/road_traffic/save-lives-package/en/
- The case for a Sustainable Development Goal Kevin Watkins
