Apart from the humanitarian aspects of road safety, the injuries and fatalities which occur as a result of road accidents have serious implications for a country in both social and economic terms. As a result of a wide variety of road safety activities and traffic management measures, road accident levels in most industrialised countries are falling, but in developing countries the situation is worsening with road accident deaths increasing. This report presents the findings of an analysis of available data on road accident fatalities which compares trends in the developing world with that of the developed. Social aspects of road accidents were also examined based on interviews with accident victims in hospitals in Bangladesh, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia, Peru, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. (A)
Abstract