India, China and Brazil are the top three most dangerous places to travel by road, according to the data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the 5th UN Global Road Safety Week, taking place from May 6-12.
Last year, India registered 150,785 road fatalities while China and Brazil had 58,022 and 38,651 deaths on the roads respectively.
According to the WHO, road traffic injuries are the eighth leading cause of deaths worldwide and 54 per cent of the deaths are of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Road traffic injuries are also the first cause of death among children and young adults aged 5-29 years. Overall, 1.35 million lives are lost each year or around 3,700 people die on the road daily while over 50 million sustain injuries annually.
The WHO also noted that low-income countries, which own only one per cent of the world’s vehicles, account for 13 per cent of road traffic fatalities.
The WHO called on government and non-government organisations to come up with concrete interventions to save lives. “(Our) vision is a world free from road traffic deaths and injuries,” said WHO director-deneral, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Road traffic deaths and injuries are an unacceptable price to pay for mobility. There is no excuse for inaction. This is a problem with proven solutions. Governments and their partners must demonstrate leadership and accelerate action to save lives by implementing what works,” added WHO Director, Dr Etienne Krug.
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