18/11/2009  | | Print

Dr Kevin Watkins, UN development expert

Lord Robertson, Chairman of the Make Roads Safe campaign

The first ever global Ministerial summit on road safety must result in urgent action and increased resources to tackle the growing humanitarian emergency on the roads of developing countries, the Make Roads Safe campaign warned on the eve of the conference.

Ministers from more than 70 countries are meeting in Moscow for the unprecedented global summit on the road deaths epidemic. Top of their agenda is the call to support a ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety’, first proposed by the Make Roads Safe campaign, which is led by the FIA Foundation. Yet time is running out. During the course of the two-day Ministerial 7,000 people will die on the world’s roads and 130,000 will be injured.

A new report by UN development expert Dr Kevin Watkins launched in Moscow by the Make Roads Safe campaign describes road crashes as “a one way ticket into poverty” for many in the developing world. In some developing countries the cost of road crashes outweighs the amount they receive in overseas aid.

The report, ‘Road Traffic Injuries: the hidden development crisis’ shows how the mounting toll of death and injury is also placing an intolerable burden on health systems.

Lord Robertson, Chairman of the Make Roads Safe campaign said:

“The Moscow Conference must signal a change of direction for global road safety. We need to stop building killer roads through poor communities and start saving lives. If you want to get a glimpse into the reality behind the global road fatality numbers, try to imagine sending your 7 year old child on a daily journey to school that involves negotiating a six lane highway. We know how to make roads safe: better road design and speed management; helmets and seatbelts; police enforcement. We have the vaccines for this epidemic, now we need the political will for a Decade of Action for road safety”.

Michelle Yeoh, movie actor and Make Roads Safe global ambassador said:

“Every day, hundreds of children receive a death sentence for simply crossing a road, for trying to get to school. Many thousands more will be killed or will have their lives ruined by injury if we don’t take urgent action. Here in Moscow governments have been given the opportunity to act. They must take it for the sake of our children.”

Developing countries are typically losing an amount equivalent to between 1-3% of GDP each year. The economic cost, at $100 billion a year, equals all overseas aid. If calculated according to ‘value of life’ formulae used to justify road safety investment in some Western countries, the cost to developing countries is estimated to be as high as US$ 385bn.

Road crashes already kill on the scale of Malaria or Tuberculosis and they are forecast to increase dramatically unless action is taken:

• Around 1.3 million people will be killed on the world’s roads this year. Over 90 per cent of these fatalities occur in the world’s poorest countries;
• By 2020, almost 2 million people will die each year on the roads;
• Road traffic fatalities are already the single biggest source of death among 15-19 year olds in developing countries and the second leading cause among 5-14 year olds.

Andrey Arshavin, captain of the Russian national football team, joined the Make Roads Safe campaign ahead of the conference. He said:

“I support the call for a Decade of Action for road safety. As a father of two children, I worry about the safety of young people. We need to take action to protect them on our roads.”

Campaigners hope the Moscow Conference will be the first step towards UN recognition for a Decade of Action for Road Safety. Experts estimate that, with political support and increased financial resources, five million lives could be saved, and fifty million serious injuries prevented, in the next ten years. There are signs for hope: as a result of campaigning by Make Roads Safe, the World Bank and the six leading development banks have this week announced a new strategy for tackling road safety which could see millions of dollars invested in road injury prevention.