Road Traffic Injuries

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are the leading cause of unintentional injuries, accounting for the greatest proportion of deaths from unintentional injuries. They are the leading cause of injury-related disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and they pose a significant economic and societal burden. Despite this burden, RTIs remain a largely neglected public health problem, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where urbanization and motorization are rapidly increasing. Unfortunately, reliable data on the burden of RTIs and cost-effective interventions in LMICs are sorely lacking. In 2010, global efforts to reduce the burden of road safety injuries received a major boost when the United Nations (UN) General Assembly launched the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020, with a goal of saving 5 million lives worldwide by 2020 (United Nations Road Safety Collaboration 2010). Since then, awareness of road safety and its close relationships to economic and social development has grown significantly, and activities that promote road safety at international and national levels have gained new momentum.

This chapter uses the latest global and regional estimates to characterize the burden of RTIs, including their mortality; morbidity; and economic and social impacts on individuals, families, and society. It summarizes economic evidence on proven and promising interventions that address the burden. The goal of this chapter is to further inform the global discourse on reducing RTIs worldwide, with a special focus on LMICs, where 90 percent of fatal RTIs occurred yet only 54 percent of global vehicles were registered (WHO 2015a).