Rights of Way: Child Poverty & Road Traffic Injury in the SDGs

This article in The Lancet discusses how China’s expanding road networks and wider personal vehicle ownership are shaping public health in the country. Although public sector and technological innovation is advancing very rapidly in China, road traffic injuries and fatalities have also increased—accounting for 80 percent of accidental deaths in the country. Insufficient emergency rescue and trauma response systems have exacerbated this transportation-related mortality. Beyond preventable road traffic injuries and fatalities, the rapid movement in…

This report from the World Bank Group estimates potential economic and social welfare benefits of reducing road traffic injuries in low- and middle-income countries. While the personal heartbreak and financial hardship associated with such injuries is well documented, less has been published about the impact of road traffic injuries on societies and economics more broadly. Analyzing data from China, India, Philippines, Tanzania, and Thailand, the report concludes that reducing road traffic injuries by half may…

This report from the International Transport Forum (ITF) examines global road safety and mobility data in 43 countries worldwide to assess overall road safety performance. The report provides an overview of short-term and long-term road safety trends, including data on mortality rates, fatality risks, road fatalities by country, and road deaths by age group, mode of transport, and road type. Preliminary data in the report finds a decrease in road deaths for the first half…