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Small-scale hazards: The case of road traffic accidents223URBANIZATION ANDTRAFFIC ACCIDENTSUrban areas are the main locus of traffic accidents, given theconcentration there of vehicles, transport infrastructure andpeople. For example, in Latin America, about half of alltraffic accidents take place in the region’s cities, andbetween one half and one third of those killed are pedestrians.In many cities, high accident rates among pedestriansare related to dense populations and walking as a main formof transport, so that many people are exposed to traffichazard. Exacerbating this vulnerability in many cities is thefailure of transport management systems, which often focuson planning for cars rather than for people. 28Uncontrolled and unplanned urban growth canincrease the likelihood of occurrence of traffic accidents.This is especially the case in many developing country citieswhere rapid urbanization and the consequent explosion ofmotorized vehicles, unplanned settlements and humanpopulations seriously threaten road safety (see Box 9.3). InEurope, urban growth, characterized by geographical dispersalof the territory within which inhabitants carry out theirdaily activities and greater use of private cars, is thought toincrease the risk of traffic accidents, given the diversity ofroad uses and increase in travel, traffic flows and crossings ofthese flows. 29Across the globe, there is an evident rise in the use ofmotorized forms of transportation in urban areas, althoughat differing paces. In particular, with greater affluence,private vehicle ownership and use have increased in citiesaround the world. For instance, car ownership in the 15European Union member states (EU-15) 30 has trebled in thelast 30 years and continues to rise by 3 million every year. 31As illustrated by the case of São Paulo Metropolitan Area(Brazil), increased motorization is accompanied by a numberof negative externalities, including traffic accidents, congestionand declining use of public transportation (see Box 9.4).While private car ownership may be on the rise in somecountries, motorization is characterized by an increase intwo- and three-wheeled vehicles elsewhere. For instance, inIndia, motorcycle ownership increased 16-fold between1981 and 2002, while private car ownership increasedsevenfold during the same period. 32 Rates of motorizationare also higher in richer countries, compared with poorercountries, with lower Human Development Index (HDI)levels (see Table 9.2).Urban poverty and vulnerability to injury from trafficaccidents are linked. Although the urban poor have environmentallyfriendly travel habits through a dependence uponnon-motorized and public modes of transportation, they arethe main victims of road traffic accidents. 33 Urban transportsystems influence patterns of vulnerability in that they canforce the poor into choosing high-risk transport options. InBangladesh and India, a recent study shows that the poor arekilled and seriously injured mainly as vulnerable road users(i.e. while walking or using two- or three-wheeled transport,both motorized and non-motorized). 34 In cities where publictransport has become unreliable, expensive or does notserve areas of rapidly expanding settlements, privatelyBox 9.3 Factors threatening road safety in India’s citiesTraffic accidents pose a serious threat to residents of India’s cities. Since 1971, traffic fatalitieshave increased fivefold in India. The massive growth in motor vehicles is thought to be the mainfactor underlying this rise in traffic accidents. Between 1971 and 2001, there has been a 20-foldincrease in the combined number of cars, taxis, trucks and motorcycles. A number of additionalfactors threaten road safety in India’s cities:• limited network of roads, often narrow, poorly maintained and unpaved;• unsafe driving behaviour, which results from virtually non-existent driver training,extremely lax licensing procedures and lack of traffic law enforcement;• unsafe vehicles;• inadequate or non-existent traffic signals and signage and lack of traffic management;• almost complete lack of infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists;• forced sharing of narrow, crowded rights of way by both motorized and non-motorizedvehicles, pedestrians, animals and street vendors; and• overcrowding of buses, rickshaws and even motorcycles.Source: Pucher et al, 2005Box 9.4 Increasing use of the automobile: The case of São Paulo, BrazilComprised of 39 cities, the São Paulo Metropolitan Area has a population of 17 million. It hasexperienced not only rapid urban growth over the last few decades, but also a sixfold increasein its motorized vehicle size between 1970 and 1996. A study of transportation and trafficaccidents in the area (for the period of 1967 to 1997) illustrates how increasing use of automobilesis causing a range of negative externalities, such as traffic accidents, congestion andpollution, to sky rocket. The sharp rise in the use of private transportation has been accompaniedby a concomitant decrease in the use of public transportation.Results from the study indicate that the mobility-income paradigm, where those withhigher income enjoy greater mobility, has been maintained. The individualization of motorizedmobility is evident: between 1987 and 1997 alone, 75 per cent of all additional trips were madeby car. An analysis of changes in mobility by income level between 1987 and 1997 illustrated adecrease in mobility based on public modes of transportation.A number of factors are thought to have contributed to the increasingly unsustainablechanges in São Paulo Metropolitan Area’s transport systems, including:• conflict and lack of coordination between institutions concerned with decisions on landuse, transport and traffic at both the federal and local levels;• policies supporting automobile use and less prioritization of public modes oftransportation (e.g. 27 per cent of the budget of São Paulo city was used for roadconstruction between 1967 and 1977);• lack of integration between modes of public transportation (e.g. only 10 per cent oftrips between the subway and rail are integrated, while there is no integration betweensuburban trains and bus services);• the poor and deteriorating quality of public modes of transportation (service irregularity,unreliability, increased travel time and discomfort), yet increasing cost of fares; and• inadequate enforcement and safety education and campaigns.The transformation of the roadway system to accommodate automobile use is thought to haveincreased the vulnerability of pedestrians and non-motorized transportation modes to trafficaccidents.Source: Vasconcellos, 2005