U.N.-safe: the global road safety crisis in Africa.

• Author: Churchill, Rachel E.D.

1. INTRODUCTION

   Every year, approximately 1.2 million people across the world die in road accidents. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) These fatalities disproportionately affect developing countries, where 90% of these deaths occur. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Africa has rate of road fatalities of all other world regions. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The financial cost 0f these accidents to low and middle income countries is $65 billion a year, which is more than these countries receive in international developmental assistance. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Despite the impact unsafe road travel has in developing countries, most of these countries lack the resources or political will to address the issue. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Furthermore, the United Nations has only recently begun to consider road safety, and few international or regional laws have been promulgated to guide and assist countries suffering from what is being called an epidemic. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \ * MERGEFORMAT)

   The purpose of this note is to consider and analyze regional and international laws and organizations concerning road safety. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The World Bank estimates that if accident rates went down a mere 30% in poor countries by the year 2020, 2.5 million lives could be saved and 200 million injuries could be prevented. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Part II of this note will discuss the global road safety crisis; the particularities of how it affects developing countries, and how these general problems affect African nations. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Part III will introduce domestic and international responses to the issue of road safety by governing bodies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and non-profit organizations, with particular focus on the 1968 Vienna Conventions on Road Traffic and Road Signs and Signals, The South African Development Community Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology, and the UN Global Road Safety Collaboration. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Part IV will analyze the appropriateness of these responses and suggest additional actions that should be taken. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Part V will conclude with suggestions of how to begin to address the problem of global road safety. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT)

2. Why Africa Suffers From The Highest Rate Of Road Fatalities

   1. Why The World Doesn't Know And Why It Should

      Desmond Tutu equates the struggle against traffic injury and fatality with apartheid. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The Roman Catholic Church raises issues of road safety to spiritual proportions. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) When Americans flip on their local news channel, journalistic sensationalism dictates that all local car crashes resulting in serious injury or death be reported. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The thousands 0f fatal car crashes that occur daily in developing countries, however, are not reported internationally because they do not have a local or sensationalist flair, (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) There is also a popular belief that accidents are unavoidable actions of fate, or that the victim was at least in part to blame for the accident, leading to less sympathy for the victims than if they died by other means, such as by disease. (NOTEREF _REF194065771 \h \ * MERGEFORMAT) An of these reasons lead to a low awareness 0f this issue, making these deaths and injuries "ubiquitous yet invisible." (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) without international outrage at the epidemic, African nations will use their few resources to address more publically acceptable issues as a higher priority (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT)

      More than 85% of traffic deaths and injuries globally are experienced in low and middle income countries. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Africa world's highest rate of road injury and fatality, reaching 28.3 for every 100,000, compared with 14.8 for every 100,000 in Northern America and 11.0 for every 100,000 in Europe. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Between 2000 and 2020, traffic fatalities are expected to increase 80% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 68% in Northern Africa, while decreasing by 28% in high income developed countries around the world, (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Accidents and their precipitated injuries and deaths in Africa result in a cost of $3.7 billion annually to the region, accounting for 1% of the region's GNP. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) this is more than the countries receive in international aid. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \*. MERGEFORMAT)

   2. Factors Unique To Developing Countries That Increase The Risk Of Road Fatalities

      The most probable victims of road deaths are different between developed nations and developing nations; more than 60% of road fatalities in the United States are among drivers, but only 10% of fatalities in Kenya, for example, are drivers. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \ * MERGEFORMAT) Because roads pose a fundamentally different safety and economic risk in developing countries, it is important to identify the problem before international bodies can properly assist in alleviating the loss, (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) This section will highlight several major factors unique to developing countries that contribute to their high fatality rate. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT)

      There are many factors that make the people of Africa particularly susceptible to the highest rate of road fatalities. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) when considering these factors in the section that follows, the information must be hedged by an acknowledgement that existing research and analysis is hindered by a lack of data, (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Surveys suggest 92% of all pedestrian injuries in Ghana, for example, go unreported to police. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) a major reason why many African laws inadequately address the risks of road fatalities is because governments are not fully apprised of the totality of causes. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Even countries that do provide statistical data, however incomplete, have different reporting standards than other countries, so a point for point comparison of the results is misleading. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT)

      1. Vulnerable Road Users

         Certain groups are more susceptible to injury and fatality based on their form of transportation. (NOTEREF-Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Vulnerable road users include pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists, and mass transit riders. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The most vulnerable and frequently injured road users in Africa are pedestrians because of their lack of barrier protection. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Depending on the country, between 40% and 75% of road fatalities are pedestrians. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Even people are aware of the risks of their transportation choices, they often are unable to afford other methods. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Level of education, often related to poverty, is also a variable of risk. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) In Kenya, for example of commuters with no formal education, 27% commuted on foot, 55% commuted through public transportation, and 9% used private vehicles.

         In developing countries, buses, trucks, and taxis are the vehicles most frequently involved in accidents. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) In Lagos, Nigeria, buses are referred to as danfos and molue, or "flying coffins" and "moving morgues," respectively, because of their dangerous reputation. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) While aware that public buses are dangerous, poor commuters have no other economical choice, and must subject themselves to the risk of death and serious injury in order to earn a living. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Possible reasons why these vehicles are so dangerous include risky driving, poor vehicle maintenance, over-crowding passengers, poor road conditions, congestion, and a lack of laws and regulations to remedy these problems. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT)

      2. Increased Vehicle Presence

         There are relatively few vehicles in developing African countries, and their novelty makes it more difficult for vulnerable road users to anticipate and gauge a driver's actions to maintain their own safety. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) In developing nations of Africa, there is only one licensed vehicle per 100 individuals, compared to 60 out of 100 in developed countries. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) A survey of all motorized countries demonstrates that as the number of licensed vehicles increases, there is a correlating increase in road deaths, which in turn begin to decrease once the country is developed. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Even South Africa, the highest income country in Africa, has not experienced a significant decrease in road related deaths because it is not yet a fully developed nation. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT)

         Poor vehicle maintenance also contributes to the high accident rate in the region. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) In many African countries, there are no vehicle inspection requirements. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) This is particularly alarming considering that many of the cars are already used when imported and are not properly maintained. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Poorly maintained vehicles include mass transportation vehicles, such as buses, that are over-packed with low income passengers who cannot afford safer transportation. (NOTEREF _Ref194065771 \h \* MERGEFORMAT)

         In September 2006, the Kenya Police Motor...