Let's stop needless road deaths in Asia

Shigeru Omi Straits Times Asia News Network Singapore

Across much of Asia, urbanization and motorization are mushrooming alongside economic growth. The benefits are obvious: Greater mobility, a wider choice of leisure activities and general convenience. But there is a price to pay. As the region's roads fill with motorcycles, cars and trucks, more people are dying needlessly in traffic accidents.

The figures are daunting. Each year brings 10 million severe injuries and deaths on Asia-Pacific roads. The region accounts for about 60 percent of global road deaths, despite having only 16 percent of the world's vehicles. Road deaths jumped by nearly 40 percent in Asia between 1987 and 1995 -- while in developed nations, they fell by about 10 percent because of better safety measures.

Globally, road accidents are set to become the third leading cause of disease or injury, behind heart disease and depression. If decisive action is not taken soon, the number of people killed and disabled every day on the world's roads will grow by over 60 percent by 2020.

By then, road deaths will have increased by 92 percent in China and 147 percent in India. Against this background, the World Health Organization (WHO) has selected road safety as the theme for today's World Health Day. The slogan, Road Safety Is No Accident, reflects that many injuries are preventable.

"Accidents" are usually not random or uncontrollable events. They happen because motorists violate the rules of the road and don't use seat belts. Motorcyclists weave dangerously through traffic and spurn helmets. Pedestrians cross roads in a reckless way.

Some governments have already introduced road-safety strategies. In Vietnam, the authorities have established a National Committee on Traffic Safety, and an action plan on road safety has just been completed. But the pace and scale of change is overwhelming. For example, the number of motorcycles in Hanoi rose by 29 percent in 2001, while road deaths jumped 37 percent. Almost overnight, the motorcycle replaced the bicycle as the most popular mode of transport.

According to a survey by the Hanoi School of Public Health in 2001, road accidents in Vietnam kill 58 people every day. About twice as many are left permanently disabled. Victims are usually young motorcyclists who know little about traffic rules and who don't take the simple precaution of wearing safety helmets.

In Cambodia, traffic injuries are increasing at 30 percent a year. In China, more than 600 people die every day from road accidents, WHO estimates. That's more than all mainland deaths last year from Sars.

Asia's problem is acute and has its roots in migration to cities, poor public transport, greater disposable incomes and the availability of cheap motorcycles. In Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, motorcycles account for over 75 percent of vehicles on the road. Fewer than 10 percent of the riders wear helmets and four family members sometimes travel on one motorcycle.

Some of the more developed and motorized nations -- for example, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand -- lose a significant share of their citizens to road deaths. In many areas, road accidents are the leading killer of young people: Over 180,000 who are under 15 years old are killed in crashes every year worldwide.

The most tragic element of this statistic may remain hidden in the living rooms of victims' families, where a photograph may be all that is visible of a youth whose life was cut short.

A typical accident victim is a young man -- a son, husband or father -- and, frequently, a breadwinner. A Hanoi study found that 50 percent of victims were the main sources of family income. It also found that 70 percent of victims needed help for about a month for daily activities like getting dressed. A study in the Laotian capital of Vientiane found that many victims take several months to return to work. Normally, only war creates this kind of multiple tragedy of death and disability, emotional pain and economic hardship.

It is no coincidence that the Handicap International, which for years worked with landmine injuries, has expanded its work to road safety. It promotes helmet use in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and works on road-safety education in schools.

Many options exist to save lives. For a start, road-safety awareness must be promoted. Money must be spent on such features as speed bumps, lighting, signs, sidewalks and the elimination of accident "black spots". All these demand commitment from government sectors. But the benefits are enormous. The burden on hospitals and economies will be eased. Cities will become more livable. Societies will be enriched.

The writer is regional director for the Western Pacific at the World Health Organization.