Holidays by car. Safety report that you must know
In the years 2000, the horror seemed endless. The number of fatalities and injured in road accidents around the world has reached a terrifying level.
According to estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO) Every year, almost 1.5 million people died on the roads, and over 50 million were injured – Many of them with permanent physical and mental effects.
In some parts of the world, traffic has become the greatest threat to everyday life – Especially in countries with rapidly growing car traffic, insufficient road infrastructure and a lack of safety measures. Road traffic resembled a chaotic race: more and more vehicles, bad traffic planning, no education.
In most cities, there were almost no bicycle paths, often pedestrians were not included in road planning, and safety awareness was low. The situation in low income regions was particularly serious, where the vehicles were often outdated and unwashed in modern safety technologies.
Actions bring results
However, there was a change. “We have observed a constant decrease in the number of road accidents” – scientists inform in a study published in the magazine “Social Science & Medicine”. “The positive effects of global traffic safety activities” bring results. Scientists inform that the number of accidents and fatalities has dropped.
This is confirmed by the “global report on the state of road safety” of the World Health Organization (WHO) from December 2023. It stated that The annual number of victims of road accidents around the world fell from approx. 1.25 million in 2010 to 1.19 million in 2021. – which is a decrease by approx. 5 percent
– It may not seem a lot, but it is significant progressconsidering that the number of cars on the roads has more than doubled, and the population of the world in the same period has increased by almost 1 billion – comments David Reid, risk researcher at the National University of Singapore.
Already in the “global report on the state of traffic safety” from 2018 a positive trend was recorded, although at that time about 1.3 million fatalities of road accidents were reported at that time. WHO announced that the experience of developed countries show that based on a approach based on scientific evidence, it is possible to achieve improvement.
Key factors
According to WHO, one of the main factors of positive changes is technical development motor vehicles. Modern vehicles are equipped with support systems, such as automatic emergency braking, lane maintenance assistant, warning about a dead field or reversing camera. These systems help prevent accidents or significantly reduce their effects.
The development of passive safety technology is also decisive: airbags, crumple zones and more stable passenger cabins have contributed to a reduction in the number of serious injuries.
WHO also informs about the successes achieved thanks to exacerbation of the rules: More and more countries have introduced or tightened effective regulations – regarding, for example, the obligation to fasten the seat belts, wearing helmets, speed limits, permissible blood alcohol concentration and using smartphones.
At the same time, it was expanded Supervision over trafficfor example, through radar controls and breathalyzer tests. Particularly positive development occurred in Portugal, whose roads for a long time were among the most dangerous in Europe.
According to the report, the number of road accidents decreases (illustrative photo)
Public health problem
In most countries, the legal obligation to fasten the seat belts has been introduced. WHO explains that speed limits in city centers and limited traffic zones in residential districts also reduced the risk of accidents. Communication education in schools is currently a standard in most countries.
The third important factor that contributed to improvement of security is better infrastructure. According to WHO, the reconstruction of roads with roundabouts, islets, pedestrian crossings, speed limits and separate bicycle paths significantly reduced the number of serious accidents, especially in cities. However, there are still countries where the number of fatalities of road accidents is growing, for example India.
The fourth milestone is digitization. Navigation systems with real -time traffic information help drivers bypass dangerous situations such as traffic jams or accidents, and provide better organization of traffic in cities, which makes it easier to predict the road situation.
Reducing the number of victims of road accidents is not a final success, because too many people still die on roads, including over 100,000. children a year.
“Lack of road safety is a problem of public health,” emphasizes the expert Laes Tingvall from the Chalmers Polytechnic. – However, this problem can be solved by using methods based on scientific research – he adds.
