Traffic Safety Focus of Global Campaign

Monday, April 5th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Traffic accidents kill 1.2 million people worldwide each year, the equivalent of wiping out the entire population of Dallas or Copenhagen, Denmark. But unlike diseases such as AIDS or malaria, there's no international clamor for a cure.

``There's a kind of fatalism,'' said Dr. Etienne Krug, the director of injuries and violence prevention for the World Health Organization, the United Nations' health agency. ``People don't act on it in part because they think, `Well, society has to modernize. That will mean we'll have more cars, we'll have more roads, and therefore the price to pay is that people will be killed or injured.'''

The organization wants to combat that attitude with a yearlong focus on traffic safety. This Wednesday, the agency will release recommendations for improving traffic safety at a kickoff in Paris attended by U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. Events are planned for that day on six continents, including the launch of a school program to promote bike helmets in Thailand and free eye exams for drivers in Nigeria.

The WHO estimates that by 2020, traffic accidents will kill 2.3 million people annually and will be the third-leading cause of death behind heart disease and depression. In 1998, traffic accidents were the ninth-leading cause of death, behind AIDS, diarrhea, malaria and other illnesses.

Traffic accidents kill people in different ways depending on the region. In high-income countries such as the United States, where 42,815 people died in road accidents in 2003, accidents most often kill drivers and passengers, and pedestrians represent about 12 percent of deaths.

Those statistics differ dramatically in countries where few people own cars. In Southeast Asia, a substantial portion of those killed were riding bicycles or mo-peds, Krug said.

In Kenya, 42 percent of the 3,000 killed each year are pedestrians and another 38 percent are passengers of public transportation, according to Dr. Olive Kobusingye, a regional adviser for the WHO in Brazzaville, Congo. Kobusingye said speed limits, if they exist, are rarely enforced in sub-Saharan Africa, and only around 2 percent of cyclists use helmets.

``Roads that are built to carry heavy motorized vehicles are shared by cyclists, pedestrians, carts and animals,'' Kobusingye wrote in an e-mail. ``This conflict can only result in road deaths for the vulnerable.''

Southeast Asia had the highest number of deaths in 2000, with 435,000, but Africa and the Middle East had the highest rates per 100,000 people. Low- and middle-income countries account for 90 percent of all traffic deaths, according to WHO statistics. In all countries, males are far more likely to die because they travel more and engage in riskier behavior, Krug said.

Krug said he hopes the WHO's focus will increase communication between countries about ways to cut down on accidents. Last year's WHO focus on children's health led to two major summits for health ministers.

``There's not enough recognition of the fact that we can understand road traffic crashes and we can do something about their prevention,'' Krug said.

In Ghana, for example, inexpensive speed bumps and rumble strips installed in the last few years have cut down on traffic crashes by 35 percent. Colombia has reduced deaths by improving public transportation, Krug said, while Mozambique and Nicaragua are models for collection of traffic data.

Dr. Jeffrey Runge, the U.S. government's top traffic safety official, said attention to the problem may also prompt high-income countries to share their resources and data.

``We want to be good neighbors and contribute what we know,'' said Runge, who leads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Runge said NHTSA has the most comprehensive system for collecting traffic data in the world. Krug said NHTSA also is a model because many countries don't have separate agencies that focus on traffic safety.

Runge said NHTSA has been working to reduce traffic deaths in low-income countries. China asked for the agency's help in compiling a database to keep track of vehicle defects, he said. Runge also is part of a United Nations coalition that is trying to raise awareness of the human factors that cause deaths, such as speeding, alcohol and failure to wear seat belts.

Runge said a separate United Nations coalition is working to standardize vehicle safety features so that poorer countries would have the same features that wealthy countries take for granted. So far, Runge said, it's been difficult for countries to agree on making some features standard requirements, such as back door locks that prevent children from inadvertently opening doors or safer head rests. But he's hopeful that some agreements will be reached by the end of the year.

In the United States, President Bush is expected to make a proclamation about road safety on Wednesday. The president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents 10 automakers, also may speak at the New York Auto Show, which starts this week, an alliance spokesman said.

Runge said he's determined not to squander an opportunity to make people understand that there are cures for traffic safety deaths.

``They're not random acts of God. They're predictable and therefore they're preventable,'' Runge said.