Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

230
Natural and human-made disasters
Traffic deaths and
injuries remain
largely invisible to
society and policymakers
…
Continued
international
cooperation and
support are vital for
the reduction of
road traffic
accidents, especially
in developing
countries
world.
Engaging multiple stakeholders is particularly essential
in raising awareness and institutionalizing road safety
among all road users, but especially among drivers of motorized
vehicles. Problems of coordination between different
governmental bodies at various levels and with private-sector
operators of transport services pose a serious challenge for
cities of developing countries, such as Seoul and Mexico
City. 82 In India, the National Urban Transport Policy
proposed the creation of unified metropolitan transport
authorities in cities with at least 1 million inhabitants in
order to improve interagency cooperation on transport
planning. 83
Improving traffic accident data collection
Traffic deaths and injuries remain largely invisible to society
and policy-makers because they are mostly scattered individual
events with low impact. 84 This is exacerbated by a lack of
capacity to collect and compile traffic accident data,
especially in developing countries. For instance, only 75
countries report data on traffic mortality to the WHO. Where
national-level data on traffic safety is incomplete, it limits
strategic planning. Data on mortality is often available; but
casualty information is needed for a more comprehensive
analysis of the impact of traffic accidents on livelihoods and
economies. One way forward is to develop integrated
recording systems for police and hospitals. Where nationalor
city-level data is available, it is not always clear that this
has been used in policy development, suggesting a potential
opportunity for more evidence-based planning.
More work is needed to help understand the full
economic costs of road crashes and to assess performance of
policies aimed at reducing traffic accident risk. Policy assessments
could combine accident statistics with other
performance indicators, especially those that can be targeted
at improving vulnerable road user safety (such as the number
of pedestrian crossings installed, safety audits conducted and
hazardous locations improved). 85
Access to accident statistics is also a critical determinant
of risk perception by road users, which, in turn, shapes
their behaviour. 86 Moreover, it is an important basis for
publicity and education campaigns designed to promote road
safety.
INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION IN ROAD
SAFETY PROMOTION
A major advancement in the road safety agenda over the last
decade has been the growing number of United Nations,
multilateral and bilateral donor organizations that have
developed road safety policies. 87 In October 2005, the
United Nations endorsed a historic Resolution on Improving
<strong>Global</strong> Road Safety in recognition of the limited capabilities
of developing countries and countries with economies in
transition to address road safety concerns and the need for
international cooperation. 88 This led to a call for a <strong>Global</strong>
Road Safety Week, the first of which was held in April 2007
in order to raise awareness on road safety concerns (see Box
9.10). Furthermore, the WHO was mandated to coordinate
road safety issues across United Nations agencies and with
other international partners through the United Nations
Road Safety Collaboration. 89 Since its establishment, this
collaboration has been active in the areas of data collection
and research, technical support provision, advocacy and
policy, and resource mobilization. 90 The collaboration has
also established an Annual World Day of Remembrance for
Road Traffic Victims. 91
Another influential international collaborative effort is
the <strong>Global</strong> Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) (see Box 9.11).
The GRSP provides non-financial support for country and
city governments by improving global dissemination of road
safety lessons and through a series of partnership-based road
safety projects. The GRSP concentrates its resources among
a group of highly vulnerable countries where partnerships
for road safety could be built. These are Brazil, Costa Rica,
Ghana, Hungary, India (Bangalore), Poland, Romania, South
Africa, Thailand and Viet Nam. Initial work has been successful
in generating data and raising the profile of road safety,
and pilot projects have shown ways of reducing risk.
The work inspired by the GRSP shows that safety can
be gained in even the most vulnerable countries. The
partnership approach has meant that non-governmental road
safety projects do not compete with government schemes.
Partners have been varied and the private sector has played a
role. In South Africa and Thailand, multinational corporations
have been involved in road safety initiatives. In Ghana
and India, local business partners are more important.
Community actors have also contributed in India and South
Africa – for example, in creating ‘safe zones’ as a public way
of generating demand for safer roads. In Poland, the
Technical University of Gdansk has become a partner with
the GRSP. The key to success in building awareness of, and
support for, road safety has been partnerships to institutionalize
road safety, an area of work that many other countries
could learn from. 92
A number of other initiatives illustrate the attention
that road traffic accidents are receiving internationally. The
Commission for <strong>Global</strong> Road Safety recently established by
the FIA Foundation 93 seeks to examine the framework for,
and level of international cooperation on, global road safety
and to make policy recommendations. 94 The World Bank’s
<strong>Global</strong> Road Safety Facility, launched in November 2005,
intends to generate increased funding and technical assistance
for initiatives aimed at reducing deaths and injuries in
low- and middle-income countries.
Continued international cooperation and support are
vital for the reduction of road traffic accidents, especially in
developing countries. In the 2007 Accra Declaration, African
ministers of transport and of health reaffirmed their commitment
to road safety and called upon the 2007 G8 Summit to
recognize the need to improve road safety in Africa and to
incorporate this agenda in development assistance
programmes. 95