It is the product of transport policies that put vehicles, highways and speed before people and road safety. The same ‘vehicle first’ approach has makes current approaches to transport policy a threat to international efforts to tackle global environmental problems, including air pollution and climate change. Governments meeting at the UN ‘Rio+20’ summit in June 2012 acknowledged these impacts, emphasising the need for safe and sustainable transport to be an essential component of development strategy. Following the Rio summit the current debate on post-2015 priorities and new Sustainable Development Goals provides an opportunity to reframe transport policy priorities around two simple principles: safety for people and sustainability for the planet. It is time to act on one of the great development challenges of the 21st century. The sheer scale of the road traffic injury epidemic is still not widely recognised. Every year, some 1.3 million people die on the world’s roads – 3,500 every day. Another 50 million people are left with injuries, a large proportion of which are serious or even permanent disabilities. The vast majority of the victims live in the world’s developing countries and the major emerging economies, where road traffic injuries are holding back progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For millions of people, injuries sustained on roads are a source of poverty, debt and despair. Children and young people are among the main victims. Road traffic injuries are the single biggest source of fatality in the 10-24 year-old age group, worldwide. In 2004, the last year for which comprehensive data is available, road traffic injuries claimed more lives among 5-14 year olds than major killer diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and HIV/AIDS. The future looks far worse than the present. Demographic, economic and human settlement trends point unequivocally to a marked increase in road traffic fatalities and injuries. In Africa, which has the world’s highest ratio of fatalities per vehicle, a growing and increasingly urbanised population means that more people will be placed in harm’s way. We estimate the cumulative increase in fatalities to 2016 at 47,000. Another 90,000 people could be killed on India’s roads above current levels. Globally, there will be some 2 million road traffic fatalities annually by 2020 unless action is taken. With economic growth driving an increase in the number of cars on the world’s most dangerous roads, this projection could prove to be an understatement. The relentless increase in road deaths is symptomatic of a wider failure to put people and planet at the centre of transport policy. Outdoor air pollution kills as many people - 1.3 m annually according to the World Health Organisation – as road traffic injuries. Some 70-90 per cent of the pollutants responsible for these deaths - such as carbon monoxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other particulate matter – originate from gasoline-powered cars. Transport is also a major contributor to climate change, accounting for about one quarter of worldwide CO2 emissions –and cars and trucks represent three-quarters of this total. Emissions from road transport have increased by 50 per cent since 1990 and are now the second fastest-growing source of emissions after power generation. Meanwhile, the iron law of congestion, under which more roads act as a catalyst for more cars and more traffic jams, is a source of economic waste and inefficiency. Many major cities are losing 1-3 per cent of their GDP as a result of road congestion. There are no surprises or hidden magic bullets for tackling the road traffic injury crisis. Vehicles need to be separated from vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. Speed has to be managed to reflect the safety features of roads. Overpasses and underpasses are needed to ensure that children have safe passage to school. Seat belt and safety-helmet legislation has to be enforced – and car manufacturers have to comply with safety standards that place a high premium on safety. The policies needed are tried, tested and affordable – but they are not being put in place. Many actors have a responsibility to change this picture. Developing country governments need to draw up comprehensive strategies aimed at reducing road traffic injuries. Multilateral development banks spend billions of dollars each year to finance road building, yet systematically neglect road safety. High level policy statements from the World Bank and regional development banks have not been followed through and translated into operational practices. When it comes to assessing project performance, the multilateral development banks put speed and economic efficiency before all other considerations, including the safety of road users. Policies that are needed to tackle the crisis in road safety – the development of affordable and accessible public transport, slower speeds, safer and greener cars – would also generate significant environmental benefits. This report sets out an agenda for change. It highlights some of the priorities for international cooperation, including: • Inclusion of sustainable transport and road safety within the new Sustainable Development Goals, for example with a health target of reducing global road deaths by 50% from 2010 levels by 2030; • Stronger leadership in developing countries, with governments taking responsibility for putting the interests of vulnerable people before the drive to reduce journey times at all costs; • Increased financing, with US$200m annually in aid to support the development of national road safety strategies in the poorest countries; • The production of safer vehicles and stronger regulation to prevent car manufacturers conducting a race to the bottom in vehicle safety provisions for the poorest countries, through the harmonisation of global standards, uptake of new technologies and car assessment programmes. (Author/publisher) This report is an updated version of Kevin Watkin’s report ‘Safe & sustainable roads: an agenda for Rio+20’, published in May 2012.
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