Every day more than 3000 people die on the world's roads. The total number of people killed in road traffic crashes each year is nearly 1.3 million people, while the number injured could be as high as 50 million. Young people are among the most vulnarable of road users.
While road traffic death rates in many high income countries have stabilized or declined in recent decades, data suggest that in most regions of the world the global epidemic of traffic injuries is still increasing. Without increased efforts and new initiatives, World Health Organization (WHO) expects the total number of road traffic deaths worldwide and injuries to rise by some 65% between 2000-2020 and in low-income and middle-income countries deaths by as much as 80%. According the latest study of WHO (Global Status Report on Road Safety) over 90% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low-middle income countries, which have only 48% of the world's registered vehicles.
For recent studies please visit the website of the World Health Organization that act as coordinator on road safety issues across the United Nations system: www.who.int
