This report overviews road safety performance in 38 countries and offers cross-country comparisons of key safety indicators. Detailed country reports provide the most recent safety data in IRTAD countries, including detailed analysis by road user, age group and road type, and describe crash-data collection processes, road safety strategies and targets, as well as recent trends in speeding, drink-driving and other aspects of road user behaviour. Key Messages: The number of road fatalities declined by 42% overall between 2000 and 2013 in the 32 countries in the International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) for which data are consistently available. Greatest reductions were achieved in Spain with more than 70% and Portugal with almost 70%. Many other countries had reductions of more than 50%, notably Denmark, France, Slovenia and Lithuania. Most non-European IRTAD members achieved a lower than average reduction in the number of road fatalities. The IRTAD countries with lowest road mortality rates are located in Europe: Sweden and the United Kingdom recorded fewer than 3 fatalities per 100 000 inhabitants in 2013. In some member countries, however, this rate is still in excess of 10. Elements to explain this overall good performance include: the implementation of systematic road safety strategies and programmes that are tackling the main risk factors for traffic crashes (speed, alcohol, non-compliance with traffic rules), advancing technical standards for road infrastructure and vehicles, improved emergency and heath care, and economic conditions. Interestingly, the economic downturn in 2008-10 influenced the number of road deaths during that period, possibly contributing to about two-thirds of the decrease in fatalities through a number of factors: reductions in distance travelled (especially by young men and by heavy goods vehicles), speeding, in drink-driving. Despite the good progress in recent years however, the number of traffic causalities is still high, even in the best performing countries. Also, road crash fatalities in IRTAD countries only represent a small share (6%) of the 1.3 million global road deaths. A full 90% of casualties occur in low- and middle-income countries. The numbers of serious injuries from road crashes are decreasing at a slower pace than those of fatalities in many countries. This is important, because many survivors of severe crashes will never recover completely, often entailing grave consequences for people’s quality of life but also negatively affecting the economy. Police records alone are usually inadequate to carry out analysis on the nature and consequences of serious injuries. Moreover, international comparisons are currently unfeasible, as counts and definitions of a “serious injury” vary widely among member states. IRTAD encourages its members to set up adequate mechanisms for combined analysis of police and hospital data and proposes a common definition of serious injuries on the basis of the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), and recommends that a serious injury should be defined as one with a Maximum AIS score of 3 or more (MAIS 3+) Although substantial fatality reductions have been achieved since 2000, there has been less success in saving lives among vulnerable road users - pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists - than among car occupants. Fatalities among car occupants were reduced by 54% between 2000 and 2013, whereas decreases were only 36% for pedestrians, 35% for cyclists and 22% for motorcyclists. Motorcycle deaths increased between 2000 and 2007. As a consequence, road safety priorities in many countries have recently shifted from motorised rural traffic to vulnerable road users in urban areas. Globally, road traffic injuries rank among the four main causes of death for children above five and is the number one killer for children aged 15-17, according to WHO data. Traffic mortality of children is substantially higher in low-income countries. Since 2000, the share of road deaths for children, both inside passenger cars and as pedestrians, has been decreasing in high-income countries and increasing in all other income regions. Even though the overall IRTAD child mortality rate is at a relatively low level of less than 1 fatality per 100 000 children, the variation among member states and by road transport mode is considerable, indicating room for improvements in many countries. Drink driving: All IRTAD and observer countries have established maximum authorised blood alcohol content (BAC) for drivers as one of the primary measures to prevent crashes, injuries and fatalities caused by drink driving. General BAC levels in these countries vary from 0.0 g/l in Czech Republic and Hungary to 0.8 g/l in Canada, Jamaica, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The most common maximum authorised BAC level is 0.5 g/l. Most of the countries also apply lower BAC level for novice, young and professional drivers. Speed limits: In urban areas, in most countries, the default speed limit for passenger cars is 50 km/h; lower speed limits (typically 30 km/h) are often enforced in residential areas or around schools. Higher default speed limits (60 km/h) are found in Poland (during night time), Chile and Korea. Speed limits on roads outside built up areas typically vary between 80 and 100 km/h. The lowest speed limits among IRTAD members and observers are in Jamaica (50 km/h) and Japan (50-60 km/h). The highest speed limits — up to 120 km/h — are in Chile and Poland. Several countries differentiate speed limits according to the type of road, weather or pavement. On motorways speed limits vary between 90 to 140 km/h. In Germany, there is only a recommended limit of 130 km/h. Seat belt use: The use of seat belts is regarded as one of the most effective measures to save lives and reduce crash injury severity for car occupants. All IRTAD countries have mandatory front seat belt regulations. The use of seat belts on rear seats is still not mandatory on the whole road network in some countries. Wearing rates vary widely in member countries, and they are usually higher in front seats. For front seats, values typically range between 80% and nearly 100%, but can also be as low as 52% (Argentina). For rear seats the range is between 15% (Chile) and 98% (Germany). Motorcycle and helmet use: In all IRTAD member and observer countries but the United States, the use of helmets on powered two-wheelers is compulsory and the wearing rate is usually high; many countries report a near to 100% compliance. In the United States, there is no federal law on helmet use, and three states do not have any helmet law. In most countries helmet use for cyclists is not compulsory; however the compulsory use of helmet by children is becoming more frequent. The Goal of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, endorsed by more than a hundred governments, is to “stabilise and reduce” the projected level of global road fatalities by 2020, from a 2010 baseline. Meeting this goal could save up to 5 million lives, and prevent up to 50 million serious injuries. Governments are recommended to develop national action plans for the decade 2011-2020. To support these, a Global Plan for the Decade of Action was developed around the five pillars of the “Safe System” approach. In this context, several countries released national road safety strategies in 2011 or updated existing strategies. These include quantitative targets, interim targets, sub-targets and performance indicators. Some countries set targets for reducing serious injuries alongside the goals of reducing fatalities. Progress since 2010 will be reviewed at the Second Global High Level Conference on Road Safety, hosted by the Brazilian government in Brasilia on 18-19 November 2015. It will also be an opportunity to build partnerships and arrange financing that can deliver the new road safety targets expected for approval at the UN Summit on Sustainable Development Goals on 25-27 September 2015. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting