Over the past two years, there have been half a billion cases and 6 million deaths in the US. Traffic deaths and injuries are a global problem that preceded it.
Around 1.35 million people die each year on the world's roads, and another 20 million to 50 million are seriously injured. The most vulnerable users of roads and streets are pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
Every 25 seconds someone dies in a road accident. The head of the United Nations Road Safety Fund has called road deaths and injuries a silent epidemic.
I have studied transportation and road safety for many years. Making transportation systems safer is doable and not rocket science.
The key is for governments to prioritize safer roads, speeds and vehicles, and to promote policies such as traffic calming that are known to reduce the risk of crashes.
The numbers make the case that road deaths are equivalent to diseases like the flu. Road deaths are the top cause of death for children and young adults between the ages of five and 29 in low-income countries.
Crashes can cause serious economic harm to victims and their families. Between 2015 and 2030, road injuries will cost the global economy almost $2 trillion.
Death and injury rates in low- and middle-income countries are higher than in high-income countries, so dangerous roads add to the costs of being poor. One of the UN's goals is to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from traffic incidents.
There is a lot of variation in traffic deaths. In Africa, the road traffic death rate is 27 per 100,000 population.
Richer nations have had more time to develop strategies and tactics to reduce accidents than lower-income countries.
The US road death rate was 31 per 100,000 in 1937, when traffic death in the streets of cities like New York was considered a routine part of metropolitan life. The rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the same.
Poor roads, less safe vehicles, and poor medical care are some of the factors that lower-income countries tend to have. The nations have less ability to enforce traffic laws.
In higher-income counties, traffic incidents tend to involve one or two people. Multiple passengers are involved in incidents in lower-income countries.
33 people were killed when a fuel truck collided with a crowded bus outside the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are many unsafe older vehicles, many drivers are not properly trained, and drinking and driving is common in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the roads are poor.
The challenge for many middle-income countries is a rapid increase in vehicular traffic as the population becomes more urban and more people earn enough money to buy motorcycles and cars. The carrying capacity of urban roads can be overwhelmed by this quick rise.
There are differences between rich and poor countries. In 1994, Europe and the United States had the same traffic death rates, but Americans were more likely to die on the road by 2020.
Twelve people are killed in traffic in the US every year, compared to four in the Netherlands and Germany, and two in Norway. The difference is due to more aggressive programs across Europe to reduce speeds.
The US lags behind other rich countries in promoting road safety. There have been more traffic deaths in the US in recent years. After a gradual reduction over 50 years, the number of deaths went up to a 16-year high in 2021. The number of pedestrians who died hit a 40-year high.
There was a surge in deaths. The roads were less busy during the COVID-19 lockdowns, but more people engaged in riskier behaviors, including speeding, drinking and driving, distracted driving, and not using seat belts.
Pedestrian and cyclist deaths were going up even before the Pandemic as cities encouraged walking and biking without providing adequate infrastructure. A white line on a busy street is not a substitute for a bike lane.
There are two narratives that cloud discussions of traffic deaths. I view these events as a slaughter of innocents. It is part of the cult of automobility and the US affords fast- moving vehicular traffic.
The roads and highways have been created by automobility where deaths and injuries are considered accidents. This is an extreme form of environmental injustice. Poorer communities are overrepresented in traffic deaths and injuries.
The second narrative says that most road deaths and injuries are caused by human error. Poor drivers, distracted pedestrians, and aggressive bicyclists are blamed for street deaths.
People take too many risks. In recent years, a majority of drivers view texting while driving and speeding on highways as extremely or very dangerous. Many drivers report engaging in those behaviors.
A persistent myth is that 94 percent of accidents in the US are caused by individual drivers.
The bloated figure has shifted responsibility away from other factors such as car design, traffic infrastructure, and the need for more effective public policies.
Road traffic deaths and injuries are not accidents. They can be prevented and reduced. It will require governments and planners to rethink transportation systems for safety and livability.
Reducing traffic speed on urban roads will mean protecting motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
It will require better road design, enforcement of traffic laws that make the roads safer, and more effective and enforceable measures that promote safety devices like seat belts, child restraints, and helmets for bikers and motorcyclists.
Making streets safer does not require designing new solutions in laboratories.
The will to apply tools that have been shown to work is needed.
John Rennie Short is a professor at the University of Maryland.
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