Publication: Confronting ‘Death on Wheels’ : Making Roads Safe in ECA
Date
2010-01
ISSN
Published
2010-01
Author(s)
Marquez, Patricio V.
Banjo, George A.
Chesheva, Elena Y.
Muzira, Stephen
Abstract
Road traffic injuries (RTIs) have become
a major public health challenge in many low- and
middle-income countries (LMICs). About 90 percent of the 1.3
million deaths and 50 million injuries from road traffic
crashes worldwide each year occur in LMICs, although these
countries have only 48 percent of the world's
registered vehicles. Increasing motorization and
urbanization in LMICs could double this toll by 2030. The
difference in road crashes between LMICs and high-income
countries (where many road deaths still occur), is stunning.
ECA countries have experienced rapid growth in the number of
passenger cars on the roads over the last two decades. In
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), there was a
120 percent increase in passenger cars per 1,000 persons
from 64 in 1990 to 141 in 2003. Similar trends were observed
in countries in southeastern Europe. Vehicles in many Europe
and Central Asia (ECA) countries tend to be old and have
sub-standard safety features. Length of roads and highways
(in km.) has also increased since the 1990s by 18 percent
and 157 percent in the CIS, 21 percent and 75 percent in
European Union (EU)-10 countries, and 46 percent and 144 in
southeastern Europe, respectively. In spite of significant
investments in road infrastructure since the 1990s, in some
ECA countries the roads still suffer from poor maintenance
and under-investment.
Citation
“Marquez, Patricio V.; Banjo, George A.; Chesheva, Elena Y.; Muzira, Stephen. 2010. Confronting ‘Death on Wheels’ : Making Roads Safe in ECA. Europe and Central Asia Knowledge Brief; Volume No. 15. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/d3f36732-8eb2-5ef2-8b8e-a7ad17ebb8c3 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”