Road traffic deaths have fallen by five percent to 1.19 million annually, according to the latest World Health Organization report.
Yet the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023 also reveals with more than two deaths occurring per minute and over 3,200 per day, road traffic crashes are still the leading killer of children and youth aged 5–29 years.
“The tragic tally of road crash deaths is heading in the right direction, downwards, but nowhere near fast enough,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Ten countries succeeded in reducing road traffic deaths by over 50 per cent, according to the report. They were: Belarus, Brunei Darussalam, Denmark, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, the Russian Federation, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Meanwhile 28 percent of global road traffic deaths occurred in the WHO South-East Asia Region, 25 percent in the Western Pacific Region, 19 percent in the African Region, 12 per cent in the Region of the Americas, 11 per cent in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and five per cent in the European Region.
The report revealed 53 percent of all road traffic fatalities are vulnerable road users including: pedestrians, riders of powered two- and three-wheelers including motorcycles, cyclists and users of micro-mobility devices such as e-scooters. Deaths among car and other four-wheeled light vehicle occupants fell slightly to 30 per cent of global fatalities.
