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Small-scale hazards: The case of road traffic accidents231CONCLUDING REMARKSTraffic accidents are the most significant cause of injury anddeath associated with small-scale hazards in urban areas.Global trends indicate that the incidence and impacts oftraffic accidents will increase by 2020 if no action is taken.High-income countries will experience a decline in roadtraffic accident fatalities, while regions dominated by lowincomecountries will experience a phenomenal increase inmortality from road traffic accidents. The magnitude of lossboth in terms of human life and economic assets is substantial.However, loss and injury vary greatly across countries,cities and within cities. Mortality is highest in Asia andAfrica, while Asia and Latin American and Caribbeancountries experience the highest economic losses. Withincities of developing countries, unprotected road users(cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists) are most vulnerableto death and injury from traffic accidents, while a proportionatelyhigher number of people are injured as users offour-wheel vehicles in developed nations such as the US,Australia and The Netherlands.A variety of interrelated factors determines theincidence and severity of traffic accidents, including behaviouralfactors, vehicle factors, road environment,vulnerability of certain road users and post-accident medicalservices. Reducing the risk of traffic accidents in urban areasthus requires action on a combination of fronts. Successfulpolicies and interventions to reduce the risk of trafficaccidents combine legislation, enforcement and publiceducation.At the international level, frameworks and guidelinesare required to support government actions to reduce trafficaccident risk. Current international cooperation and lobbyingwith respect to traffic accidents is encouraging; but lowandmiddle-income countries require additional support toincrease their technical and legislative capacities to reducerisk. At the national level, legislation and policies should beintroduced to improve road user behaviour, road safetyawareness and transport infrastructure investments. Policiesgoverning levels and rates of motorization at the nationallevel should consider the consequences of increased motorizationfor traffic accident incidence. City authorities shouldseek to reduce traffic accident risk through traffic management,road design and safety, road space allocation, land-useplanning and accident response capacity.Box 9.10 The first United Nations Global Road Safety Week, 23–29 April 2007In October 2005, the United Nations General Assembly invited the United Nations RegionalCommissions and the World Health Organization (WHO) to jointly organize the first UnitedNations Global Road Safety Week. The week was modelled after previous road safety weeksorchestrated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and after World HealthDay 2004.The theme for the week was ‘young road users’ as young people constitute a majorgroup at risk of death, injury and disability on the road. While the focus was on young roadusers, the actions resulting from the week are intended to benefit road users of all ages. Duringthe course of the week, a large number of local, national and international events were hostedall over the world. Numerous partners participated in these events, including governments,United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector.The main objectives of this first United Nations Global Road Safety Week were to:• raise awareness about the societal impact of road traffic injuries, highlighting the risks foryoung road users;• promote action around key factors that have a major impact on preventing road trafficinjuries: helmets, seat belts, drink driving, speeding and infrastructure;• highlight the fact that road safety happens not by accident, but through the deliberateefforts on the part of many individuals and many sectors of society (governmental and nongovernmentalalike), as emphasized in the slogan for the week:‘Road safety is no accident.’Sources: WHO, www.who.int/roadsafety/week/en/; General Assesmbly Resolution, 60/5Box 9.11 The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP)The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) was initiated in 1999 by the World Bank withpartners from business and civil society, as well as bilateral and multilateral donors. The secretariatis currently hosted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red CrescentSocieties (IFRC) in Geneva. The GRSP has worked alongside city and national governmentsseeking to promote road safety. Activities focus on efforts to change the behaviour of roadusers as a means of reducing risk.In Ghana, work has focused on a Voluntary Code of Conduct, launched in 2004. Theproject aims to improve the road safety performance of individuals driving, in particular, forwork purposes by asking them to sign up to a Voluntary Code of Conduct. The code ofconduct increases drivers’ awareness of the primary risk factors involved in crashes, includingexcessive speed, alcohol, fatigue and mobile phone use.In Thailand, among a number of initiatives, the Safer Schools Zones project engagesmost with land use. The project has installed pedestrian crossing signs and undertaken educationprogrammes on road safety with children and local residents, including competitions onroad safety for school children. Monitoring shows that safe behaviour is more common amongchildren who completed a road safety education course. The behaviour of parents, however,does not seem to have changed.In Poland, inadequate pre-hospital care and slow emergency response times lead tocomplications and increased mortality from traffic accidents. The need for advocacy and trainingon emergency response was recognized and a workshop held with a small group of decisionmakersand experts. The primary goal of the workshop was to generate action on the part ofkey stakeholders in Poland to increase the effectiveness of the pre-hospital care and emergencypreparedness and response systems in Poland. The workshop led to an evaluation of the prehospitalcare system in Poland involving experts from the World Health Organization (WHO),Austrian Red Cross, Holmatro and the World Rescue Organization.Source: GRSP, www.grsproadsafety.org/