High speed, not buckled up, no helmet: Mistakes in road traffic are responsible for many accidents and injuries. According to researchers, they should be avoided. The UN also wants to act.
According to scientists, better protective measures in road traffic could save more than half a million lives worldwide every year.
If protective measures such as wearing helmets and seat belts, adhering to speed limits and not drinking alcohol before driving were observed much more consistently, between 347,000 and 540,000 road deaths could be avoided worldwide every year, wrote the researchers led by Adnan Hyder from George Washington University in the US capital Washington in the specialist journal “Lancet”. The United Nations also wants to act.
In addition, especially in poorer countries, better rescue measures after traffic accidents could save another 200,000 lives a year, it said. According to the scientists, around 1.4 million people die in traffic accidents worldwide every year – mostly younger people in poorer countries. Despite some progress, not enough is being done to tackle this crisis, criticized the researchers, who analyzed 74 studies on 185 countries for their work.
The United Nations now want to change this. With a resolution passed unanimously in the UN General Assembly on Thursday, the countries of the world are to be obliged to improve road safety. The plan aims to at least halve the number of road fatalities by 2030. A great deal of attention is paid to the particularly vulnerable road users: pedestrians and people on motorbikes and bicycles.
