Half of Traffic Fatalities Are Not in Cars
Thought you would be interested in the World
Health Organization's release of a 351-page report of a study funded by
Bloomberg Philanthropies
that reveals, according to a
story published today by the Washington Post, that:
Nearly half of the 1.2
million people killed in traffic accidents around the world each year are
not in cars. They are on motorcycles or bicycles or walking along the side of
the road.
The story is titled "Half of Traffic
Fatalities Are Not in Cars" can be found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/15/AR2009061501544.html
The
story says that:
One of the more surprising
discoveries was the toll on pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcycle riders
crowding the roads in developing countries, who accounted for 46 percent of all
traffic deaths.
The report, according to the story, tells
about how much more civilized we are here in the U.S.:
In the United States, 51
percent of deaths involve car drivers, 21 percent are car passengers,
11 percent
motorcyclists,
11 percent
pedestrians and
2 percent bicyclists.
The story concludes by noting
that:
WHO is hosting a global
conference on road safety in Moscow in November. [Etienne G.G. Krug, a physician at WHO in Geneva
who led the project] said he hopes the data will be updated periodically in the
future in the form of national report cards on traffic
safety.
Perhaps the dream of "Traffic Justice" that
many of us envisioned at the start of the 2006 ProWalk/ProBike Conference will
come closer to reality in Moscow this November.
John
John Gideon
Consider Biking
Vice-President
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