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POOR ROAD SAFETY CONDITIONS THREATEN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING OF EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA COUNTRIES
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.11.2009 17:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Unsafe road traffic conditions in the countries of
Europe and Central Asia (ECA) have tremendous adverse implications
for their economic and social well-being, says a World Bank
report released today. Treating road safety victims is imposing
an increasingly unbearable burden on these countries' health and
social services. Road traffic injuries are a major cause of death
and disability, affecting young and working-age groups of society
in particular, and ECA countries need to act now to prevent injuries
and save lives, suggest World Bank experts.
The report Confronting "Death on Wheels": Making Roads Safe in
Europe and Central Asia, released after the first Global Ministerial
Conference on Road Safety, reviews the size, characteristics, and
causes of the road safety problem in ECA countries. The report will
help bring into action the agreements reached during the conference
held in Moscow on November 19-20, 2009 under the main theme Time
for Action. The report finds that the magnitude of the road safety
problem in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
Eastern and Central Europe, the Baltics, and the Balkans is much higher
than in Western Europe, even though their car fleet is smaller and the
number of kilometers they travel by car is lower. The report provides
compelling evidence on the economic and social consequences of the
silent epidemic and suggests a range of policies and strategies and
to confront and prevent "death on wheels".
In ECA, the highest estimated annual costs to governments are in
the large economies that also have sizeable populations: Russia
(US$ 34 billion per year), Turkey (US$ 14 billion), Poland (US$ 10
billion), and Ukraine (US$ 5 billion). A combination of weak road
safety management capacity, deteriorated roads, unsafe vehicles,
poor driver behavior, and patchy enforcement of road safety laws,
alongside exponential growth in the number of vehicles, are the
key factors contributing to road traffic injuries and fatalities
multiplying at a rapid pace.
According to the report, an effective country road safety strategy
requires a systematic multisectoral approach with a politically strong
and technically competent lead agency to coordinate contributions
by the many government departments across which road safety
responsibilities tend to be diffused: transport, interior, police,
health, and education, among others. The goal should be to prevent
the occurrence of injury, minimize the severity of injury when traffic
injuries occur, and prevent lasting disability in the aftermath.
The report concludes that growing urbanization, accelerating growth in
the number of vehicles, and patchy efforts to legislate and enforce
road safety measures result in continued growth of road injuries and
fatalities, and the time has arrived to support concerted efforts
to make roads in ECA countries safer. Together with seven other
development banks, on November 11, 2009, the World Bank issued a joint
statement ahead of the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety,
outlining a broad package of measures that each institution would
implement to reduce an alarming rise in the number of road injuries
fatalities and disability in low and middle income countries.
The ECA countries include Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, FYR
Macedonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, the Kyrgyz Republic,
Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, the Russian
Federation, Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.11.2009 17:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Unsafe road traffic conditions in the countries of
Europe and Central Asia (ECA) have tremendous adverse implications
for their economic and social well-being, says a World Bank
report released today. Treating road safety victims is imposing
an increasingly unbearable burden on these countries' health and
social services. Road traffic injuries are a major cause of death
and disability, affecting young and working-age groups of society
in particular, and ECA countries need to act now to prevent injuries
and save lives, suggest World Bank experts.
The report Confronting "Death on Wheels": Making Roads Safe in
Europe and Central Asia, released after the first Global Ministerial
Conference on Road Safety, reviews the size, characteristics, and
causes of the road safety problem in ECA countries. The report will
help bring into action the agreements reached during the conference
held in Moscow on November 19-20, 2009 under the main theme Time
for Action. The report finds that the magnitude of the road safety
problem in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
Eastern and Central Europe, the Baltics, and the Balkans is much higher
than in Western Europe, even though their car fleet is smaller and the
number of kilometers they travel by car is lower. The report provides
compelling evidence on the economic and social consequences of the
silent epidemic and suggests a range of policies and strategies and
to confront and prevent "death on wheels".
In ECA, the highest estimated annual costs to governments are in
the large economies that also have sizeable populations: Russia
(US$ 34 billion per year), Turkey (US$ 14 billion), Poland (US$ 10
billion), and Ukraine (US$ 5 billion). A combination of weak road
safety management capacity, deteriorated roads, unsafe vehicles,
poor driver behavior, and patchy enforcement of road safety laws,
alongside exponential growth in the number of vehicles, are the
key factors contributing to road traffic injuries and fatalities
multiplying at a rapid pace.
According to the report, an effective country road safety strategy
requires a systematic multisectoral approach with a politically strong
and technically competent lead agency to coordinate contributions
by the many government departments across which road safety
responsibilities tend to be diffused: transport, interior, police,
health, and education, among others. The goal should be to prevent
the occurrence of injury, minimize the severity of injury when traffic
injuries occur, and prevent lasting disability in the aftermath.
The report concludes that growing urbanization, accelerating growth in
the number of vehicles, and patchy efforts to legislate and enforce
road safety measures result in continued growth of road injuries and
fatalities, and the time has arrived to support concerted efforts
to make roads in ECA countries safer. Together with seven other
development banks, on November 11, 2009, the World Bank issued a joint
statement ahead of the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety,
outlining a broad package of measures that each institution would
implement to reduce an alarming rise in the number of road injuries
fatalities and disability in low and middle income countries.
The ECA countries include Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, FYR
Macedonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, the Kyrgyz Republic,
Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, the Russian
Federation, Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.