Global Road Safety

Worldwide, the number of people killed in road traffic crashes each year is estimated to be almost 1.2 million. That’s 3000 people every day.

The number injured in road traffic accidents is estimated to be as high as 50 million – the combined population of five of the world’s large cities.

According to World Health Organisation data, deaths from road traffic injuries account for around 25% of all deaths from injury.

It is expected that, without efforts and new initiatives to tackle the causes of road traffic injuries and deaths, they will rise by some 65% between 2000 and 2020.

Over 50% of deaths are among young adults in the age range of 15-44 years. For men aged 15-44 road traffic injuries rank second (behind HIV/AIDS) as the leading cause of premature death and ill health worldwide.

Among both children aged 5-14 years and young people aged 15-29 years, road traffic injuries are the second-leading cause of death worldwide.

Low and middle income countries account for more than 80% of global deaths from traffic crashes and fatality rates are rising. By contrast, the general picture in industrialised countries is of three decades of falling road deaths.