Buckleupamerica.Org: Buckle Up America! Traffic Safety

Did you know that worldwide each year over a million people are killed by traffic accidents? The fact that the use of seat belts is a primary preventative measure to reduce an individual's chances of being killed in a vehicular accident is well-known. But there are a host of other interesting facts concerning traffic safety you may not be aware of:

• Greater than 9 out of 10 road fatalities take place in poorer and average-income nations, even though these nations account for only slightly less than half of the registered vehicles worldwide.
• Traffic accidents are the leading killer of children aged 10 to 19.
• Walkers, bicycle riders, and motorcyclists, along with their passengers, make up about 46% of traffic fatalities around the globe each year. These vulnerable road users are disproportionately distributed in low-income countries.
• Velocity control is critical to the reduction of traffic accidents, especially among vulnerable road users. Not even 1/3 of all nations have initiated required steps, such as the designation of stretches of reduced-speed road, to decrease vehicle velocities in city environments.
• Drunkenness contributes to the likelihood of fatal or serious crashes. Authorities suggest that no more than 0.05 gram per deciliter alcohol be present in an adult driver. More than half of the world's nations fail to enact laws enforcing this limit.
• If a front-seat passenger wears a seat-belt, he or she is between 40% and 65% less likely to die in an accident. The analogous range for rear-seat passengers is 25% to 75%. Less than 60% of nations mandate the use of front and rear seat-belts.
• Child restraints, which include infant, child and booster seats, can increase the crash-survivability of young children between 54% and 80%. A majority of all nations do not have laws mandating the use of child restraints.
• A high-quality bike or motorcycle helmet can cut road fatalities by 40% and serious injuries by over 70%. Only 4 nations in 10 require the use of such helmets.
• Ambulances and other forms of pre-hospital care can prevent the deaths of many crash victims. Over 3/4 of nations have some form of pre-hospital care. One suggestion is a global or regional system of emergency phone numbers to simplify access to pre-hospital care.

Action is needed to prevent road traffic injuries. The United States and other wealthy countries have substantially reduced traffic death rates in the last 30 years, in no small way by enacting and enforcing seat-belt laws. But we must do more. If we don't, experts predict road traffic injuries will be the fifth leading cause of death by 2030, resulting in 2.4 million deaths a year.