Improving Road Safety in Developing Countries Opportunities for U.S. Cooperation and Engagement, Workshop Summary -- Special Report 287 (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Workshop Summary
Workshop Summary
Pages 5-44
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capabilities could contribute to efforts of developing countries to reduce traffic casualties. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
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This overview was to be derived from the agency interviews and from the discussions at the workshop among representatives of Box 1 Planning Committee for a Workshop on Traffic Safety in Developing Nations: Statement of Task The committee will develop the agenda and identify participants for a 2-day workshop on road traffic safety in developing countries. The workshop will frame (1)
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Scope of the Road Safety Problem and International Initiatives John Flaherty, chief of staff, USDOT, opened the workshop by describing the high priority his agency places on the international traffic safety problem. He assured participants that the agency would receive the results of the workshop with great interest and stated that he expected the workshop would contribute to building the kind of durable coalition necessary to respond to the problem of global road traffic safety.
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Bliss are summarized in the section below on cooperation between high-income and developing countries. The Road Traffic Injury Problem and Its Economic, Social, and Human Costs David Bishai reviewed the established facts about the magnitude of the road traffic safety crisis in the developing world.
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29.234.5 18.929.1 16.218.8 11.216.1 Road traffic injury mortality rates (per 100,000 population) in WHO regions, 2000 Africa Americas Southeast Asia Europe Eastern Western Pacific Mediterranean LMIC HIC LMIC India Other HIC LMIC HIC LMIC HIC China Other LMIC LMIC 26.3 15.0 18.1 29.2 26.6 11.2 16.1 24.1 18.7 15.8 18.9 14.2 FIGURE 1 Global mortality due to road traffic crashes (HIC = high-income countries; LMIC = low- and middle-income countries)
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World Bank projections suggest that if present patterns persist, by 2020 annual road fatalities will increase by 80 percent compared with 2000 levels in low- and middleincome countries and will decline by 30 percent in high-income countries. When fatality data are examined across countries and over time, a rough pattern emerges: as a country's income rises, road traffic fatalities initially increase with growing use of motor vehicles; then, at higher incomes, the frequency of fatalities begins to fall (Kopits and Cropper 2005)
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Major International Initiatives Four presentations reviewed road safety initiatives of major international organizations: the WHO/World Bank World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention (Peden et al.
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2004) rec ommends that governments take six actions to reduce road traffic injuries: · Identify a lead agency in government to guide the national road traffic safety effort.
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will reflect the multisector capacity-building approach recommended in the World Report. The World Bank believes that a reasonable goal for the program is to reduce the death rate from road traffic crashes by 30 percent and thereby avoid 2.5 million deaths in the next 15 years.
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government interests related to road traffic safety in other countries, to aid in comparing the magnitude of these interests with the scope of current efforts directed at the problem, and to help agencies coordinate their efforts so as to allow a more effective governmentwide response. Because of the considerable scope of international involvement of U.S.
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-- the component receiving the majority of funding; · Road safety monitoring and evaluation systems (establishment of both systems to evaluate the effectiveness of road safety activities and a national road crash data system) ; · Improvements to postcrash rescue and relief and emergency medical services; · Institutional development and support (including development of improved road safety legislation, guidelines for allocating funds to road safety, and safety planning)
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· Does the agency have an interest in traffic safety in developing countries? (In other words, is global road safety related to the mission of the agency?
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benefit from improved general welfare in developing countries: Enlightened self-interest in economic develop ment and welfare in other countries has involved U.S. government agen cies in activities aimed directly at reducing the overall rate of road traffic deaths and injuries in developing countries.
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. These offices engage in similar activities, which may include establishing rules for safety practices for employees using vehicles in other countries, providing safety training for employees, setting safety requirements for vehicles used for employees, providing for emergency medical services and evacuation, investigating road crashes involving employees, analyzing the special risks of specific countries or regions, and maintaining data on the frequency and circumstances of crashes and injuries involving employees.
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Activities Related to U.S. Commercial Interests Offices in three of the departments and agencies that participated in the interviews are responsible for programs that promote international trade and efficient international freight movement and that have implications for road traffic safety in developing countries.
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, has also provided technical advice on traffic safety in other regions. FMCSA staff noted that in carrying out its NAFTA activities, the agency has the capacity to offer non-U.S.
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Another Fogarty program provides grants directly to researchers from developing countries, although the projects funded by these grants have not addressed road traffic safety.
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Division staff were coeditors of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention. The division has worked to demonstrate within DHHS that the department can make contributions to health improvements abroad and to global road safety that are consistent with its responsibilities.
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The office has responsibilities for NHTSA planning with regard to international activities and for the agency's participation in UN, WHO, and World Bank global road safety forums, including the UN Economic Commission for Europe Working Party 1 on Road Traffic Safety. · The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
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These activities probably con tribute to reducing deaths and injuries resulting from road traffic crashes, but this is rarely their primary objective. · The Bureau for Economic Growth provides grants for road building and rehabilitation.
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Involvement of U.S. Nongovernmental Organizations The interviews conducted in preparation for the workshop involved only U.S.
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State Department to collect and publish detailed and up-to-date information on road traffic safety risks to U.S. travelers in other countries.
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willingness to devote greater resources to the global road safety problem is under discussion, planning in the U.S. government agencies concerned should address two key questions.
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Mr. Bliss noted that recent UN and WHO resolutions and publication of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention have highlighted reduction of losses associated with road traffic crashes in the developing world as a development priority.
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At the same time, the projects focus on achieving quick, measurable road safety results so as to create support for the long-term effort. The World Bank's Global Road Safety Facility, described above, has as an objective the promotion of one such project annually in each of six global regions.
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The activities described involve universities, government agencies, and private nonprofit and for-profit organizations: · The Road Traffic Injuries Research Network, an example of a university based research collaboration, is an association of traffic safety researchers in high-income and developing countries that facilitates networking and creation of partnerships by connecting researchers in developing coun tries to the international traffic safety research community. The network has sponsored training, meetings, pilot research projects, a Listserv, and an electronic newsletter.
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· The Institute for Road Safety Research of the Netherlands is also a pri vate, government-owned organization, and the Netherlands is, like Australia, a country noted for its success in reducing road crashes. The institute has participated in traffic safety projects in other countries ini tiated by government-to-government contacts at the ministerial level, including projects in central and eastern Europe emphasizing institu tional capacity building.
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Aid programs supported by high-income countries can contribute to effecting the needed changes. Forms of involvement should include participation in a global exchange of ideas and experience; transfer of road safety knowledge through training and professional development programs; support for and participation in joint road safety projects, including research projects, pilot infrastructure projects, and projects involving traffic management and accident investigation; and programs to support the develop Percent Change in Accidents 250 Developed Countries X Latin America, Caribbean 200 Middle East, North Africa Asia, Pacific Africa 150 India 100 50 X X XX 0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 FIGURE 2 Indian and global road safety trends.
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Social strategy is defined as a strategy for attaining a social objective, such as control of AIDS or reduction in road traffic deaths and injuries. The strategy must recognize the strengths and weaknesses of institutions and the expectations of stakeholders in a country.
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interest in reducing the losses from road injuries in developing countries? · What forms can U.S.
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Institutional capacity building for the sake of improving road safety (such as strengthening competencies for public administration, infrastructure planning, and law enforcement) probably contributes to development in more general ways as well that may also benefit the United States.
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The Road Traffic Injuries Research Network and activities of the Transportation Research Board that attract substantial international participation are examples. · Assistance on data programs that can provide credible quantitative evi dence of the economic and human costs of traffic-related deaths and
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The workshop presentations made clear that broad dissemination of facts on these costs to the leaders in a country is neces sary to build local support for traffic safety initiatives. Creation of a stan dardized global data infrastructure could provide this information at the country level.
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government than by the private parties acting alone. · Participation in established international coordinating activities, includ ing the UN Road Safety Collaboration described above, and in inter national forums such as the global and regional road safety stakeholder forums being planned by the UN as part of Global Road Safety Week in 2007.
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takes on management responsibility with the financial and institutional support of the donor country; and projects carried out largely among nongovernmental entities (e.g., the Road Traffic Injury Research Network and the auto club road assessment programs) , sometimes with some government support.
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Because of the need for a multisectoral strategy, workshop participants from several U.S. government agencies suggested that the governmentwide response of the United States to the global road safety problem would be greatly strengthened by the creation of a permanent institutional structure with the participation of all the relevant agencies.
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government interactions with governments of developing countries concerning road safety: · Initiatives must be structured as cooperative efforts with all parties being equal around the table, rather than the developing country being rele gated to a junior partner status. · In communicating with other countries, the U.S.
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response to the global road traffic safety problem. Creation of the permanent interagency body described above would be the first step.
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2004. World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention.
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